The Ortiz Crime Family
by AllKindsOfFanfiction
Summary: The DEA has presented Jamie and Eddie with a long-term undercover assignment, rooting out the Ortiz crime family. They have an opportunity to really test if they're ready for a future as a team in major undercover narcotics operations where they remain in high demand within the NYPD. A federal operation is the perfect measuring stick, but can they handle it?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first attempt at fan fiction of another show. To this point, I've written exclusively for CHUCK. I do enjoy other shows and have been quietly looking for something else to write about.

Enter Blue Bloods [which has quickly become my favorite show] specifically Jamie Reagan and Edit "Eddie" Janko. This TBD multi-chapter fanfic is inspired by their deleted scenes from episode 8x01, "cutting losses" while operating in the current 9th season of the show. Honestly, from a relationship standpoint I find Jamie and Eddie's relationship is written in a far more adult way than Chuck and Sarah, and unlike CHUCK, I have no complaints about Blue Bloods from a writing perspective and that includes the Jamie, Eddie relationship, this is just an idea I felt compelled to bring to life and explore, and my CHUCK stories aren't talking to me right now, so it seemed like the right time move to another show and couple.

Full disclosure, my knowledge of police work begins and ends with Blue Bloods, which I don't own. This idea, however, is all mine.

* * *

It was the last thing Jamie or Eddie expected to happen, especially with everything they were currently getting used to on the job these days. They were both cornered at the end of that day's shift by the DEA. Both of them were surprised that a federal agency needed help from a recently promoted beat cop and his former partner.

Eddie's voice went up from surprise and excitement. Her inflection was clearly in denial, "I still don't see why you couldn't just task in-house agents to handle this?" She seemed determined to ask the question as a form of probing.

Jamie was studying Special Agent Veronica Molina carefully. His eyes were like an x-ray and he responded bluntly, "I've got a pretty good idea, why else would you ask us to stay in the precinct after my squads off duty."

Veronica gave a conceding smile, "Wow, your just as blunt as your brother Danny. Of course, I see what he meant when he said you had more presence than he likes to admit." She continued rather casually which threw Jamie for a loop, DEA agents were not known for small talk. She sounded like she was trying to break the ice and it was clear in her response, "Just so you know, I requested Danny and Baez first, but he declined for both of them, said he isn't doing any more undercover ops, wouldn't say why."

Jamie leaned forward putting his hands on the table with a fixed stare. He was again blunt, "Watching his house go up, and then losing his wife in a helicopter crash probably has a lot to do with that."

Eddie tightened next to Jamie as he finished. If not for her instincts and the metaphysical connection her and Jamie had, either of them could have gone through that kind of gut-wrenching loss. She was so glad they stopped messing around and got engaged.

Agent Molina clearly had not expected this and was unsure how to continue, "Condolences…that makes sense. I have a husband, he is always worrying about my job."

Jamie cut to the chase, " as Officer Janko said, why us?"

Veronica recognized small talk was over. She turned blunt, "To be honest most of us in the DEA don't have the subtly or patience for a deep undercover assignment." She sighed before continuing, "That, and Danny said you two were better undercover cops than he likes to admit. I did my own checking, of course, people all over give you high praise."

Eddie's denial persisted. "We've only done a few assignments."

Veronica smiled, "The DEA cares about quality over quantity and is ironically lacking in the former, which is why I am asking for your help."

Jamie looked amused now, "Can't say I'm surprised, help with what exactly?"

Agent Molina continued bluntly, "There is heavy suspicion of a drug-running family operating out of the Hamptons, very wealthy and extravagant."

Jamie sighed, "Another crime family?"

Agent Molina was surprised, "You have experience with prestigious crime families Reagan?"

Jamie nodded almost as though he would rather forget, "Seven years ago, I was barely past my rookie year when I was tasked with a drug bust for my first undercover assignment, turned into deep cover when I crossed paths with Noble Sanfino."

Veronica was impressed, "The Sanfino crime family, well experience won't be a problem for you. The head of this snake is Ricky Ortiz, father coordinates everything with his two sons; Ian and Erik, they operate with a mob mentality, our info says that is catching up with them. They are looking for new hired help, that would be your window."

Jamie asked a key question, "How long is the operation expected to be?"

There would be no point in sugarcoating things and Agent Molina was blunt, "We have no timetable, you're in until it is over, and because of the sensitivity, you would need to hang up your uniform until its finished.

Jamie continued his line of questioning, "Nothing happens in this city without the commissioner being aware of it."

Agent Molina gave a confirming nod, "He's aware that we were looking at his officers for this deep undercover operation."

Jamie pressed, "So did he drop breadcrumbs that led you here."

Agent Molina pushed back, "I asked for the most level-headed capable officers he had on his force. Danny and you were first and second from his mouth."

Jamie smirked, "Danny, level-headed, I think my old man is getting senile."

She nodded through a chuckle, "I think he meant he could handle a deep cover assignment as I said, he turned me down."

Jamie sighed, "Can I have some time to mull it over?"

Eddie cut in quickly, "I think you mean us, I don't care if you outrank me now."

Jamie looked at his fiancée with a fixed gaze, "Eddie, no way, a sting is one thing, but a long-term undercover operation is tedious and dangerous."

She met his gaze bluntly, "That's why you should have someone watching your back. After you had to deal with the Sanfino's on your own can you really say you wouldn't rather have your former partner to team up with?"

Veronica was amused, "I've never seen this level of insistence before, but a lot of people said your partnership was so lock step they swore up and down you were romantically involved."

Jamie held Eddie's gaze for a moment, it was hard to argue her point. He sighed, "You heard her, either she is with me, or you find somebody else."

With a smile, Veronica nodded, "Alright, but I meant what I said this is indefinite and the chances you could find yourselves in deep means you better be able to commit to the cover. Anything less could get you killed."

They nodded, asking one more question, "What is the cover?"

She sounded matter of fact, "might as well be realistic, you look like a couple, be a couple."

Eddie casually slipped her ring back on her finger under Jamie's desk, having retrieved it from the unmarked niche she kept it in within her locker, always arriving early for to work to place it there and leaving late to retrieve it. She and Jamie always entered and exited the precinct separately, not even parking in the lot of the 29th to avoid suspicion of their romantic involvement. She sounded excited again, "We get that a lot."

Jamie pressed, "We meant who do they think we are?"

Veronica stood up, "you'll get finer details over the next day or two, but we want to give you time to inform your father, so he can help smooth out the ire this will cause with your superiors."

Jamie muttered through a tightened expression, "That, will be the least of our problems."

Agent Molina confessed, "that's why I am letting you handle it but in all seriousness thanks for the help, and again when you see your brother give him my condolences."

Jamie gave a cautioned response, "Don't thank me until the commissioner signs off. I will let Danny know."

Once she left Eddie put her arms around Jamie, "Do you think he will?"

Jamie held her close, "he recommended me, but he seriously is senile if he expects you not to follow. Besides, I told you after last year's molly bust, we were on people's radar, this is a good chance to find out if we want to make a career in undercover narcotics."

Eddie smiled broadly as they finally left the precinct, several hours past the typical quitting time, "I would much rather be your partner than be under you."

Jamie couldn't help himself, "I don't mind you being under me." His smirk was a dead giveaway he wasn't talking about their current work dynamic. Eddie playfully punched his shoulder before they broke off heading separately to their car off the 29th lot.

II

Jamie wasn't sure whether to inform Frank at home or at 1PP tomorrow. Ultimately, he decided on the former because at least he could freely argue without feeling awkward, unlike when he was summoned to 1PP following his and Eddie's engagement. Speaking of Eddie, he decided to bring her with him this time for extra verbal firepower in case he needed it.

She was clearly nervous as they got within view of the front door, "I don't see how I can help much, one thing the Regan's all have in common is stubbornness."

Jamie nodded as though she made his point for him, "Exactly, that's why you'll fit in just fine."

She eyed him with raised eyebrows, "Are you saying I'm stubborn?"

Jamie nodded again, "Yes, and I need that for this conversation."

Eddie melted, somehow, she was flattered, "It was easier when your whole family was stepping all over our wedding. Your dad commands a room both on and off the job."

Jamie pulled her close, "you can hold your own with him, the entire family sees that, and he does too." Eddie nodded.

They entered the house through the back door. Frank was not in the kitchen, he was sitting alone in the den, whiskey on the arm of his chair. He gave a casual greeting, "Jamie, Eddie, what brings you by so late? Even pop is already asleep."

Jamie took the lead, sitting down with Eddie in the other two chairs around the table, "We got held up at the precinct after shift today."

Frank closed the book he was reading, then leaned forward. "What for?"

Jamie dove in bluntly, "The DEA, about doing a long-term undercover assignment."

Frank guessed, "The Ortiz family."

They nodded as Jamie continued, "So you did know?"

Frank nodded a little stiffly, "Nothing happens in this city without me knowing, even at the federal level. So she took my recommendations and ran with them."

Jamie nodded, "She went to Danny first, he turned her down."

Frank sighed folding his hands, "I can guess you didn't, and you want to do it?"

Eddie was blunt, "We both do."

Frank sighed again more deeply, "And you expect me to sign off and just sit back and wait, holding my breath again?"

Jamie was ready for round one, "You did with the Sanfino's?"

Frank countered through a huff, "You stumbled into that, so my hands were tied. I lost a lot of sleep that year and this is more dangerous."

Jamie countered calmly again, "I don't think it gets more dangerous then surviving a hit on my head, which I have twice by the way."

Frank's expression did not hide that he thought this point was ridiculous, "That doesn't mean you should tempt fate son."

Jamie tried another angle, "Dad do you really think I like sitting behind a desk most of my day?"

Frank retorted in a higher voice now, "I seemed to remember saying recently that I hoped you and the rest of this family did things because you wanted to and not because you were forced into it." Eddie followed the back and forth like she was watching a heated tennis match, she would pick her spots.

Jamie's voice rose slightly too, "You may not have forced me to become Sargent, but the entire family pretty much guilted us into not riding together, thanks to some phantom rule, and by the way, how is two engaged beat cops ridding together worse than one being a direct superior to his fiancée?"

Eddie cut in again, "I would appreciate an explanation on that too."

Frank sighed, "First of all, you know romantic involvement between partnered cops' clouds judgment. Second of all, you know I follow the chain of command and Sargent's are free to pick who they wish for their squads, and lieutenant's just function as precinct oversight, short of serious issues because they assume the corresponding Sargent doesn't need to be handheld."

Jamie continued, "So you won't break the chain of command as commissioner, but have no problem using hypothetical children to guilt me out of riding with Eddie, as my father?"

Eddie was unaware of this and exclaimed as such, "What?"

Jamie turned to her with an irritated inflection, "Yeah, dad is thinking farther ahead than we are."

Eddie looked at Frank seriously, "do you really think so little of our ability to separate our feelings from the job?"

That threw him for a loop, he wasn't used to that anymore, it was something Mary and Linda had a gift for and they were both gone…he softened in response, "I'm afraid it will cost me a fourth and fifth member of this family."

Eddie turned to Jamie with another penetrating stare, "Does he know?

Jamie responded bluntly, "I'm sure he read the report."

Eddie's deep stare continued. She shook her head, "Reagan's are stoic to a fault."

Frank paid Eddie a high compliment wearing a somber expression, "Mary used to say that all the time, you remind me of her, never had a problem putting me or the rest of the family in our place." He smiled as if bracing himself, "go on, let me have it."

Eddie fixed Frank with a measured stare, "Have you ever really considered how much I love your son?"

Frank looked hard at Jamie, there was an undertone to his response, "as much as I loved my wife."

Eddie nodded, "He is stubborn too, I think it's why you butt heads so easily." They shared a look.

Frank responded with a level of sorrow Jamie was not used to, "I've lost a wife, a son and a daughter in law. That's three family members too many."

Jamie glanced at Eddie, "I was a split second away from getting added to that list dad."

He sighed, "I know."

Eddie could tell from Frank's expression he did not know, not really. She continued calmly her nerves rising from anger and irritation. "With all due respect, I don't think you do, I think you're ruled by your fear to the point that you have forgotten what it is like to be so in sync with someone that you create something intangible with them. I'm sure you had it with Marry, but all your time as commissioner has cast a political lens over your perspective."

Frank sighed, "I don't see where this is going."

Jamie sighed, "Dad for all the NYPD's bluster about romantically involved cops, the love that comes with that is the only reason I'm not dead, and you asked me why I got into it with that firefighter weeks ago, its because they were dilly-dallying while Eddie was still inside. When I ran back inside the entrance was moments away from caving in, she could have died."

Frank was somber, "I did not know.

Eddie continued, still calmly blunt, "that is exactly my point, you can never truly know the intangibles that loving someone to the extent that I love your son creates on the job. Did you read my report following the Sorento incident?"

Frank nodded, "you discharged your gun twice after he attempted to kill my son at close range and missed. Your second shot was fatal, and he was labeled DOA and cuffed to the steering wheel of his vehicle."

Eddie nodded, "that is the meat of it, but I left out an intangible mostly because to explain it in words…well I still can't; I made Jamie pull over to a coffee shop and while I was in line we heard the vehicle description change go out over the radio, I looked out the window and stayed in line, a few seconds later I looked back again and next thing I know I hear a voice in my head saying Jamie is about to get shot. I think Sorento only missed because my yell broke his concentration."

Jamie reminded his father of his mood at the time, "You kept saying that you had a gut feeling. If not for Eddie following hers, I would be dead. I don't you were ever aware that we make a conscious choice every day to separate our feelings from the job and have since we became aware of them. I'm not going to parade her around the NYPD, but I'm done having to choose between being her partner and being with her."

Frank finally figured out the reason behind the discussion, "You're both considering a move to undercover narcotics."

Jamie nodded, "is that really a surprise?"

Frank huffed again, "I hear things at 1PP, that whole unit is clamoring for both of you. This is a worthy test run…I will sign off."

Jamie smiled, "Thanks, dad. We should get going it's late."

Frank still needed a minute, "Let me talk with Eddie for a moment."

Jamie stood up, "I'll wait outside." Eddie's nerves skyrocketed. This was the first time she would have a personal conversation with Frank.

Frank smiled warmly, "I trust you know my son was engaged once. During the time he finished law school and decided to become a cop, until shortly after he graduated the academy."

Eddie nodded, "he mentioned it in passing to someone we were helping on patrol a few years ago. We ended up bickering about soul mates."

Frank smile stayed, "When he broke it off, I told him to trust his gut because it serves him well." He sighed, "When you lose as much as this family has lost fear tends to warp your perspective of the job. You, Eddie, are the first person to remind me in a very long time that, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. I will instruct all CO's across the NYPD to weigh the nature of disclosed relationships against the service record of those whom a given relationship concerns. If following the DEA assignment you decide to reestablish a partnership on my police force with my son in any department you will be judged fairly as a unit."

Eddie was both grateful and shocked, "I don't know what to say."

Frank responded bluntly, "Say will continue to protect my son."

Eddie nodded, "I will Frank."

He cautioned her, "You do realize it will still be at the discretion of your CO?"

Eddie smiled, "You're saying Jamie would give up being a Sargent?"

Frank's expression was analytical. "He likes being where the action is whether that is on the beat or in undercover ops. Picking up after a mess is not his style, that is Danny's thing."

Eddie looked apologetic now, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that I know Jamie better than you."

Frank sighed, "I think you made a convincing case that you do, and I need to accept that you love each other in a way that can't be quantified and is far greater than the reason we abide by the spirit of the rule. If anyone else was his partner that day I would have lost another son. I'm sure there are and will be other partnerships like that and it is unfair of me to act as if I know what that is like…Mary was on the legal side and we were together long before I became a cop.

Eddie sighed, "I will admit it can be a double-edged sword, but we both would rather watch each other's backs and minimize the chances that we get hurt or killed than have someone else do it and end up with that result anyway. Nothing against my new partner, but your son is a far better cop with much more experience and I don't have to worry about his actions on the job."

Frank nodded appreciatively, "that is why I am signing off, and I will handle your exit and eventual reinstatement. I learned after the Sanfino's that when my officers take a deep undercover assignment, especially a federal one, it is much safer to blacklist them from my force until it's over."

Eddie stood up, "Thank you, Frank."

III

Back at his apartment, Jamie questioned Eddie with apprehension, "How'd it go with him?"

She smiled, "Want to have your old partner back?"

He tempered her, "I'm a Sargent remember, I'm only on the streets to follow up on a call when necessary."

Eddie dangled the carrot, "But if moved back to patrol, or we moved to undercover narcotics."

Jamie shrugged, "Dad would just have a fit again and CO's would never allow it."

Eddie continued in a slow reveal sort of way, "What if they were forced to weigh the nature of the relationship and the service record before acting on disclosed relationships...a fair hearing."

Jamie looked impressed, "Did you just think of that?"

Eddie smiled as they sat on the couch, "Actually, your dad did, he said he would make it department-wide."

Jamie was in disbelief, "You mean he actually gets it.

Eddie thought carefully, "he sees the other side of it, I honestly think he thinks most romantic involvement between cops is a fling, and he may have been treating us that way. We probably didn't help that when we went from partners to engaged so quickly."

Jamie gave an admonished rebuttal, "I wouldn't call four years quick Ed."

Eddie smiled knowingly, "Sure, for us it wasn't, but I don't think he had a real idea we had feelings. Loyalty maybe, but love…I don't think he can recognize it to the same extent that we feel it, or that he used to feel it. To him, we probably came across in over our heads. I think he expects a certain amount of old-fashion protocol, even in relationships."

Jamie groaned, "All that gushy, staring at each other across a candlelit table kind of dating."

Eddie gave a playfully blunt response looking at him expectantly, "Got a problem staring into my eyes Reagan?"

Jamie smiled, "yeah, that's it, they're so nice that it blinds me." She playfully hit him like she always did when he said something exaggerated or sarcastic about her, or himself, or the two of them. He smirked holding Eddie tighter, "Really, I just never felt the need for that kind of, hit you over the head romance stuff."

Eddie nodded, "Charming and sweet, but not one to gush. That might be why you grew on me so quickly even though you make me crazy most of the time."

Jamie grinned looking at her pointedly, "That's because I know how to handle you, and you're not used to it."

Eddie smiled wryly, "I seem to remember telling you that once you tapped this there was no going back." They were laying on the couch now.

Jamie nodded his hands in her hair. "That I would be spoiled for life; that night, after you saved my life it crossed my mind again."

Their faces were inches apart now. The inflection in Eddie's voice was full of emotion, "I didn't care about holding back at that point, if I wouldn't have been so emotional, I would have kissed you in the middle of the street."

Jamie whispered pointedly, "Nothing is stopping you right now. She smiled broadly and met his lips momentarily. Afterward, she rested her head on his chest, he spoke aloud, "I just saw you."

Eddie whispered back lazily, "what saw me when?"

Jamie looked down at Eddie with a meaningful gaze, "That whole life flashes before your eyes split-second thing. I never really get affected by the possibility of dying on the job because it is an occupational hazard for every cop. At that moment though, that split-second…I saw you clear as day in my mind and all I could think was: damn, I'm about to get murdered at close range and she will never know how much I love her, that I would rather die with her on the job than live without her. The same thing happened when you were shot."

Eddie was misty-eyed now, "Jamie…" She cupped his cheek with her hand, "everything is fine."

Jamie nodded, "I fell for you the day you walked up to me, full of yourself and fresh out of the academy. It doesn't matter if we're on the job or off; if we patrol again or move into undercover narcotics. You're the only partner I want, I love you."

Eddie smiled recalling the vows they had already written, "our army of two…we finally get to put that into practice."

He smiled, "You can count on me."

She echoed him, "You can count on me."

* * *

A/N: That is, it. Being that this is my first Blue Bloods fan fic reviews are important. The truth is I love Blue Bloods, and Jamie and Eddie so I took those deleted scenes where they discuss and are praised for their work in undercover narcotics and ran with them. I also expanded on the issue in the first episode of this year. More to come but indefinite updates because I am a college student!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Back again, the real start of the plot is still a chapter away, but I hope this tides readers over in the meantime.

* * *

Frank was in his office at 1PP, along with his inner circle. He'd finally disclosed last night's events and the DEA's operation, though not finer details. First discussing the rule Frank wanted to implement.

Sid was the first to speak. He was his usual blunt self, "Gotta say, boss, I think opening this door could set a bad precedent."

Frank shrugged his shoulders, "Hard to set any precedent when a rule doesn't exist on the books."

Sid shrugged, "Even so I thought you won this argument, its policing common sense that mixing work and romance is a bad idea. That is why the spirit of the rule has been enough since the old days of the NYPD. What happened?"

Frank sighed deeply, "I was told the only reason my son, and future daughter-in-law aren't dead is because of the very thing we cast as a detriment."

Sid was no less blunt, "That's because it is, and I don't follow?"

Frank continued, "intangibles."

Sid was entirely confused, "you're losing me, boss."

Baker clarified, "Something unseen or unquantifiable."

Last time I checked, "That isn't this."

Frank tapped his hand while continuing, "What is the most common thing you hear about Jamie and Eddie from higher-ups on the ground."

Sid answered pointedly, "That their great cops, and the kind of duo that would flourish in undercover work."

Frank waited, "and why do you think that is?"

Sid shrugged, "it isn't because they're shacking up that's for sure."

Baker answered, "They love each other."

Sid shrugged again, "Apples and Apples if you ask me?"

Baker crossed her arms, "Not necessarily, one is tangible, the other takes many forms: it can be physical, emotional or metaphysical."

Sid pressed, "The first two spill into the job especially for partners, that, cross the line."

Frank exhaled calmly, "What about when it doesn't, and you have more of the last one than the first two."

Sid was getting a headache, "I don't even get what the last one is or has to do with this boss."

Baker answered, "then the partnership on the job becomes something like muscle memory or thought memory, almost like an extension of the gut feeling."

Frank nodded, "that was more or less Officer Janko's point."

Garret finally interjected, "so their argument comes down to some kind of Spidey-sense?"

Frank nodded he looked passive, "if you're going to simplify it that way, yes."

Sid was blunt, "you sure you're not just playing favorites boss?"

Frank furrowed his brow with a torn expression, "I am acknowledging that there are probably partnered cops across the whole of my 35,000 that are far more than flings. Two of whom happen to be my son and would be daughter-in-law, and that in those situations the intangibles created could outweigh any accompanying dysfunction. His voice rose as he continued, "So the practical thing to do, is put something in place where the disclosed relationship is measured against the service record of the cops that it involves, because the last thing I would want, is to lose a great pair of cops that demonstrate exemplary service and professionalism by forcing them to separate because they happened to be involved off the job."

Sid parsed his words, "They said they would quit, didn't they, boss?"

Frank sighed, "More or less, and I cannot let them or other capable officers resign from my police force because the NYPD chose to operate from a position of fear or politics in these matters. If personal relationships do not interfere with the ability to do the job and my cops remain professional while on duty, any intangibles could be what saves their life, something both Jamie and Eddie attested to. I am not suggesting we turn a blind eye, but a fair judgment should be applied to each situation."

Sid reluctantly shook his head. "Mind if I pull their files boss, just to see if the professional part holds water?"

Frank folded his hands, "Right now, I need you to terminate both Officer Reagan and Officer Janko and blackout their records."

Sid opened his mouth and closed it before speaking again, "You'll have to explain that one boss?"

Frank responded quietly, "They've taken an indefinite undercover assignment for the DEA."

Garret's expression was pointed, "The Sanfino protocol, I will handle the press end of things."

Sid was confused, "Come again?"

Frank clarified, "Officers tasked for a deep undercover assignment, whether state or federal, are blacklisted until such time when the operation is finished, a protocol I created after Jamie inadvertently crossed paths with Noble Sanfino and went deep cover to root out the Sanfino crime family, his second year on the job. His cover was nearly blown because of police affiliations."

Sid caught on, "Keep things airtight while they are under, got it."

Baker interjected, "I will draw up the fraternization policy, you can look it over afterward."

Garret looked between them, "While I can't comment on the personal or policing side of this if you're going to allow it, I suggest applying prerequisites; length of partnership and length of courtship come to mind. That way it weeds out the casual from the real thing and you save CO's a lot of headaches, the last thing they need is a bunch of flings surfacing and creating a political headache."

Frank thought for a moment, "A minimum of three years partnered on the job and both parties must be fully aware that there is a non-platonic element, no guessing games."

Garret smiled, "No she loves me, she loves me not?"

Frank shot Garret an annoyed look, "if they can't be honest, they shouldn't be partners let alone personally involved, and that, at least makes Officers Reagan and Janko a good test case."

Garret nodded, "Fair enough." He and Sid left the room.

Baker watched Frank carefully. She sounded like she was gauging his mood, "You're doing this for them."

Frank sighed, "They said I couldn't possibly quantify the extent to which they are in sync on and off the job."

Baker responded with a question, "Do you?"

He was somber, "Only in memory, and even then, I don't know what it is like to love a cop to the extent that they love each other."

Baker looked right at Frank, "We're not partnered on the job, so I only know half of that extent, but that is enough for me to say without any doubt that all they want is to watch each other's backs, in that sense, they are already married on the job. The ceremony just makes it official when their off duty."

He sighed through a nod, "Thank you, Baker."

She stood up, "Yes, sir, Agent Molina called earlier, she advised you to opt for reassignment instead of termination, something about limiting gossip and speculation."

He nodded slowly, "inform Garret and Sid, while I call her back."

She nodded, "of course sir." The door closed moments later.

II

That afternoon Jamie and Eddie were inside the DEA's New York affiliate. They were promptly escorted to a closed-off conference room of sorts, slightly bigger than the briefing room in the NYPD's narcotics department. There was a sizable monitor at the front of the room.

Agent Molina was already waiting and greeted them as they entered and sat down. "Thanks for coming to my neck of the woods."

Jamie smiled casually, "it's not like the precinct was an option."

She smiled, "Problematic but how is it not always a problem for you two?"

Eddie was confused, "What do you mean?"

She set a file on the table and chuckled, "You've spent too much time in your own cover."

They shared a look, Eddie shrugged, "Necessity of the job."

She nodded, "yeah well, you won't have to worry about that for quite a while, this assignment is the exact opposite. You need to be engaged or married, whatever you already are." Eddie blushed, showing her ring hand. Veronica smiled, "We were going to supply a ring, but I guess that's handled already."

Jamie eyed the file; his inflection was both blunt and sarcastic. "We'd like to know what we're dealing with and maybe enjoy the free time we've got since, you know, we were indefinitely fired from our actual jobs."

She gave a blunt smile, "We never said you had to be terminated. In fact, given you're a Reagan we asked him to reassign you both to desk duty, but more on that when I'm done briefing you." Veronica finally opened the folder. She was blunt and cautionary, "You are a usually wealthy, but recently broke couple looking for high-paying work, to sustain your high-end home and lifestyle in the Hamptons. We have you in general proximity to, but not right by most of the establishments the Ortiz family frequents, including an art gallery, which they own."

Eddie flipped through the folder while probing for further information, "Why would they operate away from the city and in the Hamptons, less drug traffic would make things harder wouldn't it?"

She nodded, "our best guess is that they funnel the drugs to Mexico, Canada, and China through intermediaries and staying secluded helps keep their secret activities secret."

Eddie's expression showed self-doubt, "Three major countries, we're just NYPD police officers…this feels like it will have national stakes. I would think the DEA is powerful enough to raid their operations."

Agent Molina leaned in seriously, "the problem is this family is extremely skilled at covering their tracks. Raids are only useful with hard evidence and you need probable cause. We've tried playing the federal card over the years, but within the context of the law, they were clean every time. We realized we needed to take a different approach, so we quietly gathered intel and decided to turn things into an outsourced deep cover assignment. Our, repour with the NYPD and the police Commissioner was an easy choice of help."

Jamie folded his hands, "what kind of drugs are we dealing with here?"

She didn't beat around the bush, "a rainbow: marijuana, speed, cocaine, heroin, molly…maybe more. They're all-purpose."

Eddie wore a mockingly blunt look, "One guess where the weed is going, legalization makes Canada a cash cow for it."

Veronica suppressed a chuckle, "Most likely."

Jamie was onto target intel, "Bio's?"

Veronica sat back casually, "Well I told you about the father Ricky…late 30s and he oversees everything, including a restaurant and the art gallery I mentioned earlier. The sons, Ian and Erik, are 21, and 23 respectively, they handle the inventory and staffing. Then there is the mother, Helena, also late 30s and sister Jen, 19; help maintain the family's public image…"

Eddie was still probing, "how are we going into this?"

Veronica smiled, "I hope you don't find art auctions boring."

Jamie shrugged, "I've never had the chance to find out. Who are we?"

She wore a rhetorical look, "Well, it goes without saying that you have to drop Reagan. First names don't matter as much, but I would think about swapping them out. These aren't the kind of people who would exactly be impressed by the gender confusion you invite."

Jamie rolled his eyes, "This again, my name is Jameson; I just hate the formality of my full name." Eddie did too, "Yeah, and every time someone calls me Edit (eh-DEET) I feel like a sophisticated hooker, Eddie fits."

She smiled in amusement, "First names are at your discretion just make sure you drop Reagan, I've also been thinking you should be married, more stable background to the family."

They spoke simultaneously, "Not a problem."

She nodded knowingly, then pulled a piece of piece of paper from the folder. "The address of your home away from home, go there at your leisure. The art auction is not scheduled until Monday. Take the weekend and get yourselves mentally ready. I trust you have your own personal sidearms?" They nodded.

Eddie bought hers after her assault incident with Jake Singer, and Jamie's family meant owning a personal gun was second nature.

Jamie looked hard at her, "What is the DEA's role in this?"

She was blunt, "I'm your contact, short of providing regular updates the DEA is invisible until you get concrete evidence for an arrest. I can't stress enough the importance of adapting to anything that you encounter. You're essentially stepping headfirst into the drug trade and playing intermediary to a mob family that makes the Sanfino's look cozy."

Eddie shared a glance with Jamie, "So we will need to break bad?"

She was unquestionably serious, "Yes, that whole mob mentality thing needs to be your headspace."

Jamie nodded, "how often will we have to be in the Hamptons?"

Eddie closed the folder, her expression was a bit wishful, "Which would be a lot more appealing if it was summer, by the way."

Veronica quipped, "Don't want to miss family dinner?"

Jamie was no less blunt, "In my family, missing Sunday dinner is breaking a commandment."

She nodded, "You will have burner phones, I would suggest staying during the week. I'm sure you know Reagan, that targets contact you all hours and it requires discretion." He nodded.

She stood up, "One last thing, I advised the commissioner to scrap the termination. Even crime families don't spend all their time doing illegal activities, and I don't think anyone would buy that a Reagan or anyone associated with them would be terminated and the last thing we need is peers asking questions. He said he would find something for you at 1PP. She picked up the folder and smiled before continuing, "My number is in your burner phones, anything you need to maintain your cover the DEA will provide. Contact me the morning you dive in, and any time you return to the city, we will have your cover identities ready as soon come up with them, just leave me a message." Her inflection was casual again, "I hear you're considering undercover narcotics within the NYPD, you won't find a better measuring stick than this."

Jamie and Eddie stood up too. He was somewhere between annoyance and appreciation as they said goodbye to Agent Molina. "alright…my old man is always under my thumb."

Eddie leaned on Jamie's shoulder with a sympathetic glance as she smiled, "he doesn't like when he is watched like a hawk or told what to do, this one."

Veronica smiled casually, "Something you and your brother have in common, so this assignment will be good for you." Jamie finally cracked a smile, as he and Eddie were escorted back out of the building.

III

Jamie and Eddie drove to their home away from home in the Hamptons, as they were told it was situated not far from the coast. A sizable two-level home that had a deck, it was part of a string of homes they passed along a quaint street, coming from the crowded streets of New York, it felt rather eerie. From the outside the house gave off a safehouse vibe, it looked flashy but considering their cover that wasn't surprising. The color was a hard silver and the front and back doors solid black, glass was situated in the middle like a window, but it was filled in so that the inside of the house was not visible from either door, something for the show of it.

They entered from the back door, the kitchen clued to the square footage of the entire house. Either of them could have fit both kitchens from their apartments in here, with room to spare. Immediately apparent was the double door refrigerator and white marble countertop and cabinets. The walls were a lighter shade of silver then the exterior of the house.

Eddie scanned things with raised eyebrows, "Well this proves my place was squalor."

Jamie turned to her with a skeptical look, "Your place was nice?"

Eddie laughed dismissively, "No, your place is nice, I was somewhere just above poor."

Jamie smiled, "Well it won't be this nice, NYPD salary an all, but well get a house."

She put her arms around his neck meeting foreheads, "Now who's thinking ahead."

Eddie spotted an envelope on the counter, it wasn't labeled. She opened it. There was a note, " _just until you wear the real ones…wardrobe included with the house."_ She emptied the contents and two rings fell on the counter.

Jamie smiled, "Well, she did say that they would give us whatever we needed to maintain the cover." They both slid the wedding rings on their left hand.

She smiled broadly, "we need a last name."

He held her newly ringed hand thinking of the only name that came to mind, "Jimmy Riordan was my alias during the Sanfino assignment for OCCB, he could just, get a wife."

Eddie raised her eyebrows, "Couldn't that lead to a problem?"

He shrugged, "As far as the public is concerned, he disappeared seven years ago…his only acquaintances are in jail for life, witness protection out of state, or dead."

She dropped her head against his, "And my first name?"

He thought quietly, "Well, don't need to reinvent the wheel here…what about Ellie? Similar, but different."

She shrugged, her inflection was blunt, "Anything's better than Edit, I loved my grandmother, but a name should never sound like a verb." She smiled again as they embraced. "is it weird that I'm excited about this assignment because we don't have to worry about romantic boundaries, not that I'm going to go overboard but I feel like I can't even steal a glance at you in the precinct. That is what _really_ drives me crazy."

Jamie smiled consolingly. "No, I know you like being arm candy. It did seem like you were on the verge of bubbling over last night."

She nodded with a serious look, her eyes narrowed irritably, "You know how I am when people try to act like have any right to make decisions when they haven't dealt with the situations those decisions affect, and saying I can't do my job because I'm involved with my partner/Sargent…the people that sit behind desks need to back off, because they have no clue."

Jamie nodded agreeably, "Believe me, it takes everything I have not to make up some kind of probation excuse and be back on patrol with you. I, did pick Maya though I wasn't about to let another guy be in a confined space with you 40 hours a week."

She smiled caught between annoyance and levity, "It's the wedding reception all over again. All you had to do was dance with me and neither of us would have ended up with black eyes. Even if you weren't jealous, I would always decline another male partner. You are the only guy I want to ride with, and if I would have been myself from the start, I would have put your father in his place weeks ago."

Jamie sighed apologetically, "I have a jealous streak, Barry was hard, I didn't want to seem so blatantly jealous."

She hugged him tightly, "you seemed so hurt, I would have preferred another scene honestly."

He smirked, "So you pitied me?"

She smiled, "No I meant what I said that night, you get me. I was just waiting for you to get out of your own way."

Jamie grinned, "I'm glad I did."

She met his forehead with hers smiling even more, "took you long enough."

IV

Perhaps predictably, that Sunday's family dinner was dominated by heated discussion of the now officially on the books fraternization policy, the table was unevenly split on if it was a good idea, not surprisingly Henry was the most vocal skeptic at the table.

He launched into a protest with a demeanor suggesting he thought his successor had a concussion and forgot his original position. "Francis, this seems like a sentimental flip-flop, and it's a bad idea."

Frank sounded indifferent, "Not sentimental pop, practical, and it is impossible to know either way until we roll it out."

He countered bluntly, "There is nothing practical about permitting romantically involved cops to partner on the job, it's a mess of hormones waiting to explode."

Erin chuckled, "You make it seem like the NYPD has a bunch of teenagers pop."

Henry was no less blunt, "Cops carry loaded guns, one argument or a bad break up could turn very ugly."

Erin scoffed, "that's not cynical at all…"

Danny chimed in casually, "I could care less either way. That being said, jealousy is the oldest cause of problems in a relationship, add guns to that, not necessarily a good idea."

Henry continued, "exactly, Francis, I think it's time to admit you caved here."

Jamie spoke testily, "Don't start pop."

Henry dug in, "let's stop acting like sentiment did not lead to this absurd rule change."

Nicky cut in pointedly, "it was never a rule."

Henry shrugged, "that's because it was assumed common sense."

Danny replied with blunt sarcasm. "Well, you know that thing about assuming."

Henry wasn't pleased, "are people really going to sit here and say that partners romantically involved in a high-stress job is a good idea."

Danny looked at Erin with a grin, "I don't know, sis you're a better prosecutor since you divorced Jack, what do you think?"

Her face showed grudging amusement, "not a fair comparison, lives aren't literally on the line in the courtroom."

Henry was done beating around the bush. "Let's just cut to the chase, those two at the end of the table cried wolf and the police commissioner threw them a bone.

Jamie was restrained but clearly angry, "got something to say pop?"

He was pointedly blunt, "You're thinking with everything except your heads, not that I'm surprised."

Eddie had heard enough. There was an edge to her voice and was forcibly critical, "if one more person assumes my relationship with Jamie is a fling or that we don't show professionalism on the job…"

Frank tempered the room, "nobody is saying that."

She didn't hide her contempt, "Really because Henry sure seems to be implying that we have no idea what we're doing, either way, and when we broke the news, you looked at both of us like we were two lovestruck teenagers in over our heads and then guilted Jamie, and me, out of being partners."

Jamie shrugged irritably, "it's fine Ed. They have no clue what it's like to love a cop, your partner, and know every day that it's the only reason you're not six feet under."

Frank huffed measurably, "That's unfair."

Eddie chuckled scathingly, "So is using kids that don't even exist to guilt Jamie into sacrificing our partnership. I told Jamie he had to choose how he wanted to act on the job, and now I'm telling you, you can't keep a foot in both camps, commissioner." Frank noted the last word with a furrowed brow.

Danny watched with passive amusement, "Kid you sure, you didn't just play the engagement to have more firepower at the table?" Jamie smirked.

Eddie scoffed, "You all wanted me to fight, I'm not easy to knock out and I have no problem punching back. She plowed on, "Did you know that cops are romantically involved all over smaller cities in other states including partners, and some have been married for years. The NYPD is behind the times."

Henry was blunt, "we're in New York City, with millions of people and none of them can afford police with a split focus, and we've all had close calls on the job, so I don't appreciate the dig, especially because death on the job is plenty common for this family."

Jamie cracked the ice he'd been treading under, "Yeah it is pop, and the only reason Eddie and I are not dead is because of the exact thing you're being a stick in the mud about."

Henry was blunt, "And you're point is?"

Eddie sighed, "We're getting really tired of people acting like they have any idea what Jamie and I have had on or off the job or can judge how we affect each other."

Danny recalled tentatively, "I've got some idea, Russel Price…" Having been present at the time, his expression was sympathetic. Jamie's free hand curled into a fist. Eddie held it tightly. He relaxed.

Erin noticed asking pointedly, "Who?

Danny clarified, "Scumbag perp, abused his girlfriend and then when she tried to report it to Jamie, he beat her to a pulp. She died from her injuries. Then he Molotoved Jamie's cruiser, and then kidnapped Eddie."

Jamie addressed Danny reflectively, "I never used to understand how lost your cool when something happened to another member of this family." He shared a meaningful glance with Eddie, looking between her and his brother, "I do now."

Danny smiled through solace, "Thanks, kid." He addressed his dad and grandfather seriously. "I know Linda wasn't a cop, but if she had been, there isn't a thing you two or anyone else could say to keep me from watching her back on the job, policy or not."

Henry was a bit defensive, "So I'm just an old senile fool is that it?"

Frank sighed, "Nobody is saying that either pop."

He was anticipatory, "But…"

Erin responded tactfully, "The spirit of the rule only looks at the physical and emotional part of love. It completely ignores the intangibles, which you can't put on a scale like justice. She continued wistfully, "I wish Jack and I had what you both have. She smiled "I told Jamie years ago not to waste time wondering if he should be with you, he never takes my advice though."

Danny jabbed at his sister, "Well, comparing these two to you and Jack is like comparing, chocolate and peanut butter to broccoli and cheese; ones a no-brainer and an obvious combination that everyone is aware of and almost everyone likes, the other just makes something most people don't like bearable, but the cheese would be a lot better off on a burger."

Erin looked caught between amusement and annoyance, "I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered."

Danny grinned, "Don't worry sis, you're the cheese." She chuckled halfheartedly.

Shawn chimed in, "So does that mean that guy Anthony is the burger?"

Erin went a slight shade of red, I didn't think mentioning this would backfire on me."

Eddie turned to Jamie and blushed, "You never told me that you talked to anyone about me?"

Jamie glanced modestly at Eddie, "Renzulli threatened to transfer you because he, like everyone else assumed that I can't separate my feelings from the job."

Eddie recalled tentatively. "That's right…you really don't like anyone attacking me, do you?"

Jamie was blunt, "That time was tame compared to other creeps like Price and Singer, they are lucky I didn't beat them to death."

Eddie melted feeling emotional, "Jamie…"

Henry was pointed, "All that makes my point, the first two usually outweigh the intangibles."

Frank turned philosophical in response, "But not always, and not to the two people who would not be here without a far greater handle on all three than most people or cops could ever hope to have. So, while I hear what you're saying pop, Jamie, Eddie and any other duo of cops who feel the way you felt about mom, or I felt about Mary, or—he paused freshly somber—Danny felt about Linda, feel about each other… is no business of the NYPD to prohibit without causality, that is why it's officially labeled the intangibles clause because you can't assume ability or lack thereof to separate love found on the job from love and duty of the job."

Erin smiled noting her fathers shift, "Congratulations, you two have shattered the glass ceiling of the NYPD something I didn't think was possible." Jamie and Eddie smiled modestly.

Henry relented with a passive expression, "Hard to argue with that." Jamie and Eddie smiled gratefully looking at Henry, and then Frank.

They wondered if he was using their absence to test the water without muddying it for them. Only the three of them knew that they would not be testing the policy until the DEA assignment was finished.

Frank smiled passively, "I am certainly thankful that both of my sons, chose their partners so wisely, and that Jamie and Eddie, have made a commitment to watch each other's backs for a lifetime and not just on the job."

Henry nodded promptly, "Couldn't agree more."

Jamie grabbed Eddie's hand sharing another glance before they smiled. He nodded, "Thanks dad, pop."

* * *

A/N: More to come, but I do type one key at a time because of a physical disability, so when I'm in college updates never have a timetable.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Long chapter here, it just kept getting bigger. My writing style is very foresight based. By that I mean I can picture everything I write as I work on a chapter, and I keep going until I reach a good stopping point. The length is more than double what I've written for the first two chapters.

Review if want, it really helps.

* * *

It was somewhere around one o'clock in the morning, Eddie was wide awake, nerves made it impossible to sleep, even though the assignment was not for eighteen hours, she just couldn't turn her brain off. In the time since her father's arrest, conviction and imprisonment, she went to great length to distance herself from a high-end lifestyle. Sure, she'd kept the Porsche he'd given her as a graduation gift, but that was more so because it was the last happy memory she connected with her father. When she found out the wealth, he'd amassed came at the expense of hardworking people she angrily swore off her father and while they were speaking again, wealth was not something she needed or wanted…as long as she could live comfortably that was enough. Trying to act like something she detested terrified her, it would be easier to act like a drug dealer or addict.

All she was feeling had evidently turned palpable, because Jamie stirred without opening his eyes, "I told him I would keep an eye on you."

She was caught off guard, "What?"

Jamie continued quietly, "Your father."

She glanced pointedly, "Your eyes are closed."

Jamie smiled, "You're always on my mind Eddie, whether we're next to each other or not, I don't need to have my eyes on you. to know where you are or what is happening to you."

Eddie was trying to parse his words. Her expression was an air of annoyance because she could not figure out his powers. "How are you in my head?"

There was amusement in Jamie's response, "You are an open book." His inflection was passive but obvious. "You're worried about playing rich again."

Eddie sighed before sitting up in bed. "Do you think the DEA knows about my dad?"

Jamie's eyes snapped open, he sat up looking at her with his arms crossed. He didn't look groggy at all. Rather like he'd been thinking with his eyes closed. He shrugged, "I learned after that incident with the protesters that the feds can dig to find anything, and your Dad's fraud conviction is hard to miss."

Eddie nodded agreeably, "I guess they can find anything." She wore a half smile, "And twist it around so your partner thinks that you threw him under the bus." Her smile became a dig through a grin. "My rookie year you must have accused me three or four times of wanting a different partner."

Jamie wore a guilty smile, "It had only been a bit since Vinny was killed, I was not in the right headspace to train a rookie."

Eddie looked somber, "I never asked how he died."

Jamie let the scars of pain wash over him before answering. "Sniper fire when we were patrolling the Bitter End. He caught one clean through his neck…blend out in my arms."

Eddie felt awful, "God, Jamie…" She squeezed in closer.

He looked at her kindly while his eyes seemed to contract, "I don't spend a lot of time wondering on the job, but I wonder every year if the only thing that saved me is my last name…PC's son on the receiving end of that shot is something no gang wants."

Eddie looked at him with her head pressed into his chest. "The life-altering stuff on the job is always the hardest to think about when the anniversary comes around. I have too many to count on and off the job."

Jamie continued almost chuckling from irony. "I used to get annoyed on patrol because he would flirt with women we questioned or were trying to help. He said that it was never a bad time to try to find a girl. He used to joke with me that all I needed was to land the right girl and I wouldn't be so uptight."

Eddie smiled, "Well I am uptight too, so I think it balances out. It did take you a bit to come around. At least now I know why you didn't come celebrate when I got off probation, I wish you wouldn't have been spooked by Renzulli's threat."

Jamie shook his head, "Actually, you are the one that made that impossible."

Eddie looked amused her gaze was ignorant. "How is that exactly?"

Jamie became blunt and emphatic. "End of the shift in the locker room, you were flirting like crazy."

Eddie was equally blunt, "I was not, you were flirting poking fun at how I look in my uniform."

Jamie chuckled defensively, "I don't think you realize how different you look in and out of it. Could put Clark Kent to shame." She shook her head to dismissively. He continued with a smirk. "Or maybe you do because you dressed down like you wanted to do a lot more than flirt with me, and you've got this, _Jamie exclusive_ look, that in the right street clothes is a minefield. I should get the medal for valor just for resisting your sirens call that day."

She scoffed playfully, "All I did was ask you how I looked, and I wasn't wearing anything flashy."

Jamie chuckled absurdly. "You asked me like you wanted me to undress you, which I would have been thinking about if I had gone out with you. I had to get away from the pheromones, because I still needed my partner and I would have been a goner if I did not turn you down."

She sighed with amusement, finishing with a smile. "If you go weak when I'm in casual clothes how are we going to keep the cover for this assignment when I have to wear high-end stuff."

He was defensive, "it's a lot easier when you're eyes and inflection when you ask me how you look, are not inviting me to undress you in the precinct locker room."

Eddie smiled teasingly. "You can undress me now if want, it would be a nice distraction. She closed her eyes feeling frustrated. "I still cannot turn my brain off."

Jamie parsed the latter of her words with a smile, "Normally I wouldn't hesitate, but I know you are deflecting and stalling." He grabbed her hand locking eyes. "You are not your parents Eddie."

Eddie frowned, "Both my parents were obsessed with money and material things. I'm worried this assignment will bring that out in me…I saw the closet of the house in the Hamptons and the clothes in it, all stunning and flashy. That used to be me once the money started piling up, I just want simple and you, that's enough."

Jamie thought for a moment he responded promptly. "So, hold on to who you were before the money. The little girl in the childhood photos I've seen. As long as you have something to tether yourself to who you really are, you won't become a cover identity."

She looked at him seriously, "I hope I can do this."

He gave reassurance, "You can, and I will have your back, for now, we need to get sleep while we still can. These deep-cover assignments come with their own stress and we could find ourselves operating on minimal sleep."

She nodded putting her head on his chest as they laid down again. Her voice was subdued. "I'm staying like this."

Jamie shrugged stroking her hair, "how am I more comfortable than an actual pillow."

Eddie answered with a soft inflection" I'm always the most comfortable right here."

Jamie smiled before closing his eyes again, "I love you."

Eddie responded softly again as they drifted off "I love you too."

II

Frank summoned Jamie and Eddie to 1PP early that day, a move that was curious because as of today they were indefinitely removed from active duty. Compounding the uncertainty was the fact they had no reason to be there if they were effectively civilians. Jamie supposed the summons was about the deep cover assignment, Eddie was nervous about the summons and it peaked when they were not on the 14th floor.

Baker spoke promptly, "He's waiting for you inside." They nodded and then went through the roped off area she pulled back.

They stood firmly addressing him with a professional salute and greeting, "Sir."

He gave a dismissive smile waving his hand. "No need for all that, your indefinitely not on my police force." Both of them loosened up and sat down.

Jamie looked pointed, "What's with the cloak and dagger?"

Frank gave a blunt answer. "Means this conversation never happened. I just have a few things to discuss, first and foremost…" He handed them each identification. "Your aliases, their complete with public records to minimize suspicions."

Jamie opened the ID, he looked abnormally blunt here; no smile, his hair was more unkempt than usual and he was wearing his leather jacket. He commented with a bored inflection. "Jimmy Riordan mob and drug man with an attitude problem."

Eddie opened hers, it was a stark contrast to the last undercover ID she used. Her face seemed elegant and prominent and her hair was down. She was caught between being impressed and shocked." Ellie Riordan, I look like a socialite. The profile techs did pretty well." They put them in their pockets.

Jamie continued with an analytical expression, "You did not ask us here just for that."

He nodded promptly, "You need day jobs, Baker needs a break, so she can focus on Brian and her family while he recovers. She agreed under protest, but I felt that eight and a half years of putting up with me, she deserves a breather, especially now."

Eddie raised her eyebrows, "What?"

Frank smiled in a blunt fashion, "You're both on my detail effective starting tomorrow and you're both the new Baker until the assignment is finished."

Jamie gauged his father with indifference. "Why do I feel like you are keeping an eye on us?"

Frank smiled through his mustache. "Well, I can't just wait for the other shoe to drop this time. He sighed, "Plus it is much more believable from a public perspective than terminating my son and his former partner because as it's been pointed out to me, you two just don't seem to screw up often. Sid got curious and as it turns out you both have the lowest combined incident rate across the entirety of the NYPD."

Eddie chuckled with a dismissive expression, "I think you're exaggerating, sir. We've screwed up plenty."

He raised his eyebrows with a pointed expression, "Anything I should know about, besides Jamie's scuffles with perps who've attacked you, of course."

Eddie shrank with a quiet response as she and Jamie exchanged an awkward look. "No."

Frank looked as though he knew better but moved on anyway. "You both know you're in for the long haul with this thing. The Ortiz family could be the lynchpin an international incident if they are not caught and prosecuted."

Jamie asked promptly, "Any last-minute advice before we start?"

Frank stood up smiling again, his inflection was blunt. "Wear a suit, for some reason you and Danny just can't quite pull off a tux. Joe was the only one of you boys who could." He was almost gone when he stopped at the exit. "Baker will get you up to speed with 1PP operations." His last remark was tense, "Watch yourselves out there, things could get messy, and I am not talking about my detail."

Baker came in a few moments later. She sat down with a small folder. "Ready to be me?"

Eddie crossed her arms, "Do we have a choice?"

Baker smiled, "I didn't even have a choice and I have the perfect excuse to get an extended vacation. He's just trying to protect you in the most professional way he could think of, it'll be a nice change of pace for him and both of you."

Jamie nodded, "Alright then."

III

After careful consideration, Jamie and Eddie decided to limit their alias to evenings unless the targets dictated otherwise. It felt more practical given that mob families like these were more active at night anyway. Baker's walkthrough was not difficult to comprehend; mostly scheduling and convoy patterns, and of course taking calls. Evening came around eventually, Jamie and Eddie returned to the Hampton's a few hours before the art auction to prep for it, going over details, plan of approach and actually getting dressed.

Jamie called from the large master bedroom he was standing in; his voice was concerning. "You okay in there, I almost got lost the walk-in closet is so big. Even under normal circumstances, I don't see how anyone would need this much clothes." Taking his father's advice, he was in a plain black suit, complete with fancy cuffs and collar. It was plain sure but clearly expensive.

She shouted back through a chuckle. "Having things in excess is the biggest trait of being rich. Why do you think the house is so big?"

Jamie offered a cynical guess, "Federal overkill."

Eddie chuckled loudly, "All this time I was worried about myself if you start brooding, we'll be sunk for sure. I'm almost done. Took forever to find the right dress."

Jamie shrugged, "I don't see how you look great in any dress."

She sounded playfully suspicious. "Haven't even seen me yet and already trying to flatter me. You realize you don't have to charm me, right? I'm leaving with you at the end of the night."

Jamie sounded modest. "When would I ever pass up telling you that you look great."

Eddie came out a few minutes later. She looked at him expectantly. "Well, I'm waiting."

Great would have been an understatement. She was wearing a black moderately cut dress that seemed to emphasize her figure perfectly. From the way, it hugged her waist and made her hips pop, to how it emphasized her chest without flaunting it.

Jamie scanned Eddie from top to bottom. His response was in his eyes which dilated quite a bit. "Have I mentioned how glad I am that I actually get to show you off for once."

Eddie gave a grateful smile; her inflection was teasing. "Well, I do like being arm candy, and there's nobody that looks better on my arm than you."

She loved that all his reactions were in his eyes. When he was emotional or empathetic, he blinked a lot, when he laughed they narrowed, when angry (especially if she was attacked) they bulged and, if like now he was aroused his pupils dilated enough so that the green of his irises filled the rest of his eyes. That old saying about the eyes being the window to the soul was true with him.

Jamie smiled as they connected foreheads. "You're going to put the art, and the other people at this thing to shame, Mrs. Riordan…"

Eddie smiled with a longing gaze. "That's a decent placeholder for Reagan, now let's go practice being married. She finished with an air of a sarcastic afterthought. "And stake out an art gallery for a crime family." Jamie shook his head with a chuckle.

IV

The art gallery was pretty packed but not to the point that people couldn't hear themselves, about the size of a large lobby. A small bar was tucked in the far-right corner. The art was a mix of classic…Van Go, Picasso, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Michelangelo. Or more recent past; Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, Salvador Dalí…and more.

Eddie scanned the room momentarily. She turned to Jamie with a smile, "I'll follow your lead, Jimmy."

Jamie took her arm. "Let's get drinks." He dropped his voice slightly. "The first rule of deep cover assignments, observe then react, wait for things to present itself." She nodded.

Seated at the bar, they could observe inconspicuously. Elsewhere, Jamie and Eddie's arrival did not go unnoticed, a young man taller than both of them—over six feet—watched them all the way to their seats. His hair was black and similar to Jamie's, but messy.

His inflection was curious, "Who are they, better yet who is she?"

Someone else sounded rather irritated he was clearly older, and his hair was silver. "If you used your eyes to observe instead of just staring you would notice that she is with someone and they are married, quite happily I suspect. Pursuits are not a bad thing but, in this case, it is a clear waste of time. She only has eyes for him."

The younger man sounded indifferent, "So, she could just be putting on appearances, kind of like you and mom."

Ricky Ortiz grew an increased irritation with his older son. "Erik, your mother and I drifted apart, yet she still helps maintain what we have built. It is naive to compare others to us." He followed his sons' eyes to Jamie and Eddie's seats, continuing his blunt lecture with a sage-like inflection. "The sea would part for the first time since Moses did it himself before that woman would ever stray from her husband, and he casts an immense hammer and shield at her side. Like I said a foolish pursuit, easily the most foolish of any of yours."

Erik Ortiz shrugged looking annoyed. "Always with the philosophical lectures and comparisons."

Ricky's patience reached its end. His voice grew sharp. "I see they fall on deaf ears, learn the hard way then if you are so compelled; you and your brother could not be more different. I will have Ian check them, they seem promising, so don't screw this up Erik. Now I have to address the room."

Jamie was sipping whiskey when Ricky Ortiz addressed the room at its head. While everyone was focused on the speech, they talked amongst themselves. Eddie was alert, "I think that's the one."

Jamie nodded agreeably, "Seems to fit."

Erik's voice joined them he was light and friendly, "Something catch your eye?"

Eddie nodded, "it's all beautiful."

Erik sounded enamored, but not with the art. "Yes, it is."

Jamie was blunt. "Jimmy Riordan, and my wife Ellie." When they shook hands, Erik grimaced slightly which satisfied Jamie.

Erik asked pointedly, "so, how long have you two been married?"

They answered together. "Five years."

He was not able to hide his disappointment but recovered quickly, with a casual smile. "What brings you both here?"

Jamie turned casual, "we live in the Hamptons, close to the water. Saw this in the paper figured it would cheer her up a bit." He put his arm around Eddie.

Eddie sounded convincingly money dependent, "I wish we could afford to bid on something."

Erik was empathetic, "Money troubles?"

Jamie nodded stiffly, "Bankruptcy usually creates that problem."

Erik was blunt with veiled levity, "Wow Jimmy, bankruptcy and you still have her on your arm. Most guys I know, when the money goes so does the girl, pretty lucky. If I were you, I'd be worried that runs out at some point."

Jamie was equally blunt, "I'm Irish, we thrive on luck."

Eddie smiled but her inflection was light and airy. It was clearly not Eddie. She was obviously going for a specific impression with her alias, "Not that he needed it, he's worth the ten million." Erik Ortiz went monetarily pale.

Jamie continued with a casual smile, "Still, we need jobs and saw in the paper you were looking for help."

He nodded a little more calculatingly. "This is a public event, not the time to discuss new business hires. You'll have to wait until it's over." He smiled again, "But there is a bar with food and drinks, and music just started, now that my father's long-winded speech is over." He aimed for levity, "Lack of money doesn't mean you can't admire the art, most people here probably can't afford it any more than you, enjoy yourselves."

Jamie whispered as he left. "See things always present themselves, I guarantee you that he is putting up a front. Now, we just have to kill time."

Eddie's smile returned to normal, "That's okay, so was I; I figured steering into rich stereotypes was a good idea. It sets up a good trump card later. Now, let's dance unless you'd rather watch from the background and start a fight later." She grinned in a nostalgic sort of way.

Jamie shook his head wearing a falsely irritated expression. "Lead the way, Mrs. Riordan."

She pulled him into the middle of the room where a handful of other people were evenly spaced out. The music was slow tempo which Jamie appreciated, upbeat dancing was not his style. The absence of lyrically heavy music helped a lot. Music more focused on melody was much easier for him to dance to, and it helped that Eddie had more rhythm than him.

Eddie gazed intently at Jamie as she led slowly to the notes of the accompanying piano. She spoke quietly, "We both said five years."

He nodded with a smile, "Yeah we did."

She was still just above a whisper, "I didn't know you saw it that way."

Jamie smiled in surprise. "How else could I see it?"

Eddie gave a modest smile, "Wannabe cop playing dress up comes to mind."

Jamie shook his head as they continued to turn slowly with the music. "Maybe right off the bat when you peeled out onto the street, but as far as I'm concerned, we've been married at least 1825 days."

Eddie's face blushed, "Specific of you to pick the same number in days that we were partnered, give or take some."

He sounded complacent, "There was a time after my first engagement fell through, where I wondered if someone better would come along…turns out that it was you."

Eddie smiled sounding quizzical, "When did you figure that out?"

Jamie sounded reflective, "After the incident with Andy."

She was surprised, "I was a mess then."

Jamie nodded with admiration. "That was when I realized how alike we are, with what we do. When things come up or go wrong, it takes its toll. My brothers were always better at locking that stuff in a box…I needed someone who got that, got me, I know you're not big on soul mates, but you are perfect for me."

There was irony in her response, "I don't know, I think I believe in, right place right time and signs; though honestly, life has beaten me over the head with one sign in particular."

Jamie looked at her curiously. "Yeah?"

Eddie put her arms around him as the piano notes continued while they moved in a steady circle. Her inflection was gentle as she smiled. "You, through all the professional and personal stress…anytime I asked for help and even when I haven't. What happened with Andy broke me, you were there to pick up the pieces." The emotion in her voice climaxed right with the music. "you're always there to pick up the pieces no matter what makes me shatter: perverts, psychos or the ones that were insecure; my father, my mother… you always have my back."

Jamie grinned. "That's the point of vows."

Eddie smiled from complacency. "You never took advantage of me, not once. Even when I was a mess, so you are perfect for me, and I think that is the point of soul mates. If you had crossed that line, I don't think I would have refused because I knew and I still know, that you love me."

Jamie smiled modestly, "I do, and I did, but I didn't want to add to your mess, and I had it pretty good already. You needed a partner, not a boyfriend, and I needed a partner and not a girlfriend. So, I kept the line, until I realized it was a distinction without a difference. You forever is all I want, the way that is defined does not matter."

She rested her head against his chest, as the last notes of music ebbed away. Her voice was calm. "1825 days, and counting."

Jamie nodded as he looked beyond with his head resting on her shoulder. He was suddenly alert, "We need to move."

Eddie raised her eyebrows, he was a little pale and tense. She questioned pointedly. "Are they acting already? Can't be that easy."

Jamie was blunt, " it's not…" He pulled her to the other end of the room.

Eddie dropped to a whisper. "What is going on?"

Jamie sighed, "My ex-fiancée is here."

Eddie spun around quickly, "Really? Where?"

Jamie was strained, "She just came out of the bathroom, she hasn't spotted me yet."

Eddie quipped sarcastically. "Good thing, I've never seen you this skittish before."

Jamie hissed defensively. "that's what happens when you're basically told you aren't good enough for someone, apparently my job was a deal breaker. I always felt like she punished me for choosing to be a cop."

Eddie was blunt, "Josh was like that…I sort of figured she was a rich snob, looks the part."

Jamie shrugged, "She's not really, I just always wondered why I wasn't good enough. Linda was never a fan of Danny's choice, but she understood, supported him. He was enough for her…I just always wondered why I wasn't enough. It's stupid but I don't like things left hanging."

Eddie shook her head, "It's not stupid. I wondered the same thing about Josh, never got an answer. I'll get you one."

Jamie hissed sharply, "Eddie, we can't just break cover…it's been eight and a half years since I've even seen Sydney."

She smiled, "Who said anything about breaking cover, stay here, and when you see me head for the bathroom, follow."

He chucked hopelessly, "you really are my personal DCPI."

Eddie smiled appreciatively. "Sit tight."

Jamie hissed continual protests even as Eddie marched to the other end of the room where Sydney Davenport was standing. She was in a long red dress; her hair was elegant, and she wore lipstick and small hoop earrings.

When she saw Eddie, Sydney seemed to take on an expression of inadequacy. Eddie's greeting was light and casual. "Big art buff?"

Sydney's smile was small mostly from intimidation. She responded quietly. " No, not particularly…I'm here on legal retainer for the family hosting."

Eddie swore in her head while continuing with light inflection. She would have to break cover after all, but she would wait for the moment. "Art dealers need lawyers?"

Sydney sounded blunt, "They do when its high value, I make sure top bids are valid and can actually be paid."

She nodded, "Well, you won't have to worry about me, I'm just admiring. Are you here with anyone?"

Sydney laughed dismissively. "No, I'm married to my work, a freelance lawyer. I take all sorts of jobs as legal counsel for clients. I was with a firm almost ten years ago, but when an international trip went bad, I decided to go into business for myself. She chuckled ironically, "My ex-fiancé, rubbed off on me, wanting to help people."

Eddie looked sympathetic, "I'm sorry, that must have been hard."

She shook her head dismissively. "it was for him, I have been wondering how he is doing since I called off our engagement back then, probably found solace in his job." She smiled, "What is your name?"

Eddie dropped her voice to barely above audible, "That's complicated, I'm undercover right now, and you need to come with me Sydney, right now." Eddie shook her head warningly as Sydney started to protest, before walking with her into the women's bathroom.

V

Jamie always said that it was a necessity to expect the unexpected on all types of undercover assignments, but watching his current fiancée drag his ex-fiancée into the bathroom, he knew something had already thrown a wrench into this assignment. He waited until the coast was clear around the bathrooms before knocking on the women's in a very specific pattern.

Sydney was exasperated, "Who are you, what is this about?"

Eddie did not answer right away, she was listening intently and held up a hand to wait. Eddie heard the knocks and opened the door ajar. "I'm sorry Sydney, but you are right in the middle of a crime family. I wasn't even going to break cover until you said you were the Ortiz's lawyer."

She was no less exasperated, "How do you know me? What is your name?"

She answered reluctantly, "Eddie Janko, I'm with the NYPD on an undercover assignment for the DEA…"

Sydney was almost stuck, "Why should I trust you."

The door opened wide enough for Jamie to step through, he responded calmly closing it behind him. "Because she's my partner Syd." Eddie moved against the door to bar further entry."

Sydney was clearly thrown, "Jamie, you made detective?"

He shook his head, "No, patrol Sargent, but now is not the time. How did you get mixed up with an international crime family?"

Sydney frowned in exasperation. "I'm a freelance layer, kind of dabble in a little of everything…what do you mean, crime family?"

Jamie's inflection was almost painful. "Syd, they export drugs to Mexico, Canada and China…illegally."

Sydney nearly crumbled from exasperation. Her voice was shallow and panicky. "Jamie, I swear I didn't have any idea about this."

He tempered her calmly, "You have to get out, right away. Their soft public image is a front."

She bit her lip nervously. "I can't, their contracted, I'm supposed to go over every winning bid and transaction, probably more. They paid me in advance."

Eddie shook her head worrisomely. Her inflection was full of uncertainty. "Jamie, this is not good. If she ducks out, they'll come after her, and if she stays, she will be right in the middle of it all."

Jamie sighed deeply, "We can't leave or break cover, we'll miss our opportunity, she's already in the middle of it."

Sydney frowned irritably, "Almost, nine years later and you still put the job ahead of me."

There was tension in Jamie's voice. "Now is not the time to complain, Syd, I don't have a choice."

She was icy, "Complaining, is that what you think I was doing while you shut me out?"

He scoffed, "Either that or punishing me for being a cop, and Joe had been dead less than a year. I needed you to bear with me, I can't believe you threw salt in my wound."

Eddie grabbed Jamie's arm. She was blunt, "You really should not be in here, it's the girl's bathroom. I know you want answers but we've got bigger problems. Give us a minute, and cool down."

He shrugged again turning harsh. "You know what, I don't need them anymore, Sydney you did me a favor, we'd have just been dragging our feet for the next three years, you were just the warm up to the real thing. He kissed Eddie with emphasis, not in a heated way, but enough to drive home the point that his relationship with Sydney was exactly as he'd said. "I'll meet you back out there." Eddie smiled absentmindedly as she watched him leave.

She turned to Sydney apologetically. "Sorry, he's not like that too often."

Sydney shook her head dismissively. "Don't be, that was clearly aimed at me." Eddie's engagement ring visible now, her eyes stared at Eddie's left hand. She sounded indifferent, almost in disbelief, but not from jealousy. "Are you two engaged?"

Eddie noticed and was blunt, "You seem surprised."

She shrugged, "it's just when I knew him, he never really had time to be a boyfriend. Always focused on the job. I see that hasn't changed, but he seems to love you a lot, to the point that I wonder if he ever even liked me."

Eddie had to fight to keep from laughing, she grinned instead. "Jamie _likes_ everyone, he must have seen something because you were engaged." She turned critically blunt. "He wondered the same thing about you…I don't think you understood or even tried to understand him, which baffles me, because you met his family, sat at the dinner table." She frowned, "it's sad really…what comes with him is a lot, but to not even try." The last of her words held clear pity.

Sydney showed irritation. "Why do I get the feeling your passing judgment?"

Eddie smiled with an air of harsh judgment that all but confirmed this. "Well, I am…mostly because Jamie somehow holds onto not being enough for you, but I've only known you briefly and know it's the other way around."

Sydney couldn't miss the critical analysis now. She was icy again, "What's your point, that you're better than me? The Reagans aren't exactly a picnic to deal with."

Eddie continued so bluntly it was a wonder she wasn't showing signs of escalation. Her inflection was noticeably angry now. "I guess Jamie really is a saint. What did you do when they called your code blue storm from the room crying?"

Sydney was stone-faced now, it appeared that was exactly what she'd done. "If you're just going to insult me…"

Eddie chuckled, "It's a wonder you're a lawyer at all and can spot anyone's mistakes, considering you don't see how badly you messed up here, you wasted his love for you and you can't even comprehend what he needed, that is a little pathetic don't you think?"

Sydney was rooted to the spot. She sounded defensive now. "It was hard measuring up to a family of Blue Bloods."

Eddie conceded her point with a casual nod but was no less harsh. She sounded angry by the lack of self-awareness currently on display. "I'll give you that much, but they tell the hard truth and seeing as I'm going to be one of them before too long, I may as well get some practice, so brace yourself. You quit when things get difficult, as most people do." There was harshness in every word as she continued. "You loved Jamie Reagan the layer, and never cared enough to understand Jamie Reagan the cop or more importantly just Jamie. He'd have been enough for you if you'd accepted the whole package…it's a shame, for his sake at least. She shrugged in a matter of fact way with a pointed expression." I should thank you for throwing in the towel so easily though, I would have felt guilty about stealing him. I don't know how long it would have taken but sooner or later he'd have broken it off. It was inevitable, the two of us. he's always been work husband, and soon I get him forever and not just on the job."

Sydney was irritated by Eddie's directness but did not object to it. "You don't beat around the bush do you, you're saying I took him for granted?"

Eddie leaned casually against the door. Her expression was politely blunt. "I think that's the point, but if there is one thing that I have learned since I met Jamie it's that the only person that can really understand a cop is another cop…he is my partner, my lover, my best friend. At the end of the day, he is the only person I want to see, and I didn't fall in love with him because we shared a squad car 40 hours a week, you loved a lawyer, shunned a cop and strung along the last person who deserved it." The last of her words held anger again.

Sydney seemed to be looking for answers. Her curiosity was palpable. "I guess I can stop wondering if he is okay… the way he is doesn't bother you? So, closed off and tightly wound, he can't ever just lock things in a box."

Eddie smiled more broadly than she meant to perhaps from some mix of irony and satisfaction. Her inflection was more of the latter. "No, he can't but…I've spent 10,400 hours on the beat with him more or less; coming back for more after shift, and somehow it still isn't enough. So, sure… he drives me crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I just wish you wouldn't have accepted his proposal when you knew in the back of your mind that you were in over your head with his family." She was very blunt again. "Stay single, you're not cut out for marriage."

Sydney seemed unable to disagree. "I figured that out a long time ago." She circled back to the more pressing issue. She was quiet. "Am I safe after you just played public defender?"

Eddie's expression turned businesslike again. She was equally blunt, "I'm carrying a soundproof box, so we were not overheard. When we go back out just play dumb, our cover is married as Jimmy and Ellie Riordan. We will try to get you out somehow, but you could be in the middle for a while; especially if they insist on retaining you long term."

She grimaced, "I'm a lot of things but I am not the breaking bad type."

Eddie was harshly blunt again, "we cannot chance a federal operation with international implications for a single civilian. Even dragging you in here for this detour was risky, but Jamie cares about people, and I care about him…if you want to stay alive you might not have a choice."

She nodded, "I understand, agent Janko."

Eddie bowed her head awkwardly suppressing a laugh, it had such a nice ring to it that she did not clarify her credentials. "Go ahead of me, and remember our cover names, otherwise this will get even messier."

Sydney stopped by the door. She was again curious for whatever reason. "When is the wedding?"

Eddie gave a thin smile with a blunt response, "if you're that interested, I will send you pictures." Sydney left looking awkward, which gave Eddie satisfaction.

VI

The unexpected encounter left Jamie somewhat rattled, he was drinking Bourbon rather hastily at the bar, Angel's Envy of all things. Eddie, his real-life angel, sat down on his immediate right, he was clearly buzzed.

Eddie put her elbow on the bar, smiling in amusement. "You don't usually drink this kind of stuff."

He responded with sarcastic levity. "Jimmy Riordan is trying something new." She smiled in amusement for a moment.

Her response was gauging. "Jimmy needs to get ahold of himself and remember we came here with much bigger fish to fry and not drown in Bourbon over a nine-year-old break up that is her loss and not yours."

He sighed, feeling his buzz, "did she tell you that?"

Eddie smiled with a consoling expression, "No, I told her."

Jamie gave a half chuckle, "Yeah?"

She was gently insistent. "it's true.

He smiled, "Thanks."

Eddie leaned into him, "I always have your back."

Jamie's eyes narrowed "I know I just wonder why she didn't she just ran. Never tried, not really."

She dropped her head on his arm. "People fear what they don't understand, I don't think she gets it."

Jamie sounded full of solace. "I'm glad you do."

Eddie gave a half smile. "That's the idea."

He was trying to sober himself. "just give me a minute."

Eddie nodded touching his face gently, "If it helps, I have plans for you later." She handed him a bottle of water which he took with a grateful exhale.

Jamie gazed apologetically at her, "I'm sorry."

Eddie tilted her head almost beside herself with pity. It was nothing like the pity she felt earlier for Sydney, this was born of empathy. She could not console him the way she wanted because they were still undercover, but she would indeed take care of that later.

For now, she held his face in her right hand. Her response was as gentle as her touch. "I know, but you don't have to be…I get it."

He sighed, emotion in his voice as he started to blink with every few words. "I wish we'd met after Joe died, I needed you, instead…" The words died in the air like a scar that was very deep.

She nodded slowly meeting his forehead while responding barely above a whisper, not for the cover but just because Jamie seemed to be somewhere that he had not gone in a long time. "That is what this is really about with Sydney, why it bothers you so much."

He nodded bowing his head absentmindedly amid a sigh. "Dad buried himself in work, Danny overcorrected by trying to fill Joe's shoes and did an awful job. Erin was already fresh off a divorce and barely holding it together for herself and Niki, and pops way of coping—bringing up old stories—just made me numb…I needed the support, and all she ever saw was how everything affected her. He was breaking with emotion now blinking very fast. "I butted heads with Danny because he had what I needed most…I needed her to love me the way Linda loved Danny, the way you love me. I needed her to feel it, to understand it, to be present in it. I had nothing and no one to find solace in or with, I needed her support, but as soon as I chose the job as my way of coping the support ended and I was alone."

Eddie put as much condolence into her voice as she could, her face was full of sympathetic heartache. "It's okay, you are not alone anymore." He made to continue, but she held his eyes in hers responding gently, "I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere, ever." She rested her forehead against his, sharing a kiss.

She so wished she could do more than that and would later tonight, but now was not the time, they had work to do…this was their way in and they could not miss it. So, Jimmy Riordan, gathered himself as the art gallery auction started to wind down and with the help of his wife on his arm, locked Jamie Reagan's troubles in a box.

VII

The auction ended half an hour later, at ten o'clock. Erik Ortiz told them to come to the family restaurant, called Rush Hour…which they found amusing because it was deserted right now. It looked more like a diner than a restaurant, or maybe it was both.

Erik guided them to the closet booth before they sat down. He greeted them casually. "Jimmy, Ellie thanks for coming here, figured it would be better since we're discussing business, see if we can get you making money again. Even if you've got that one in a million girl that sticks around for rich or for poor, poor is no picnic."

They nodded Jamie leaned casually against the booth, "The add in the paper was pretty vague." He had kept his leather jacket on for more of a street effect."

Erik smiled, "That's because we don't hire by an application. Dad always says if you want to hire the right help you've got to be more thorough with a background check than validating what is on paper. The liars never remember their personal info because they keep it on paper instead of in their heads, the smartphone has become a brain replacement."

Jamie was coolly blunt, "Smart man, what kind of help are you looking for."

He chuckled, "Not yet, I need more information first. So, Mr. and Mrs. Riordan, how did you manage to make $10 million, and then lose it."

Jamie responded casually, "The company I worked for went under after the CEO was convicted of large-scale fraud. He wasn't aware of it, but when the FBI discovered that Armin Janko was a crook and a rat, things went completely belly up. For most people associated with the company that wasn't too big of a hit but big investors like me had a lot of stock and I was one of few that didn't get out in time."

Erik laughed at the irony. "Another causality of Armin Financial, tough break Jimmy, although between you and me I heard the everyday middle class are the ones that really got screwed there."

Eddie sounded light and ignorant. "I didn't think this kind of thing went beyond the city."

Erik looked offended somewhat. "People don't live under a rock in Long Island, Ellie…it was breaking news. We never bothered with joining what somebody else built…too messy and unpredictable."

Jamie gave a stiff nod, "That's why I'll never handle stock again, selling art is a much safer way to make money."

Erik smiled tapping his hand. "Most of our wealth comes from something a little more complicated. Think Breaking Bad only much bigger."

Eddie leaned in faking excitement, "And it is profitable?"

He chuckled, "Makes that $10 mill look like chump change."

She tugged Jamie's arm for the show. "We could keep the house."

Erik chuckled, "She gets ahead of herself doesn't she Jimmy? Dad has the final say, and he'll want to make sure you check out and have rough skin."

Jamie shrugged her off for effect. "Babe, what do I always tell you about making money?"

She sat back looking convincingly sour. "Don't jump the gun."

He leaned into her more, "Yeah, let's make a good impression first."

Erick chuckled, "I guess we know who keeps the level head here, huh Jimmy."

Jamie smiled casually, "What's next?"

He tapped his hand again. Then grinned. "Follow me, out back I want you to meet my brother." They got up knowing full well this could be a setup.

Eddie responded casually, "What's your brother like?"

Erik shrugged, "oh he's the brains, I'm the muscle or at least that's how dad sees it."

Jamie sounded convincingly relatable. "You sound annoyed?"

He chuckled, "it's not all bad, Ian really is smart. He came to a stop in a long but dead-end alley, grabbing Eddie, turning dangerous. "Smart enough to know Jimmy Riordan used to role with Noble Sanfino who cut a deal with the NYPD and scurried off into witness protection." He was holding her aggressively at gunpoint.

Eddie had difficulty staying in character, why did these kinds of guys always touch her like she was an object. She could feel his breath on her neck and the fingers of his free hand using an excuse to slacken the straps on her dress. She would not stop moving, and it had nothing to do with the gun. "No, stop it." Jamie gave the slightest tilt of his head and locked eyes with her. She had to calm down.

He drew his own gun without hesitation, "Don't be stupid, this doesn't have to get ugly."

He chuckled harshly, "I think you should take your own advice, Jimmy. I would hate to splatter this fine piece's face against the alley wall. Remember that thing I said about lies, I find people tell the truth if you just—he pushed the gun hard into her clavicle—push the right buttons." He continued almost dryly. "I watched you both when you came into the gallery. Dad didn't know who you were still doesn't, but he more or less told me I didn't have a shot at pulling her away from you. That she'd die before she ever left your side, she just might…I just want to know where the hell you've been for seven years. Can't afford a snitch like Noble, messing up what we've built."

Jamie's grip on his gun tightened, "You should have listened to your dad, I won't hesitate to blow your head off if you pull that trigger. Now put the gun away or I will kill you slowly and painfully with my bare hands."

Erik was not swayed, "Start talking or Ellie is going to be red stains on these walls."

Jamie locked eyes with Eddie, and then remembered what Joe always said about telling a convincing cover story, the best ones use a measure of real facts, so you can calmly tell the truth even in weaving a total lie. "Noble's uncle put a hit on both of us, he went into witness protection. I survived on my own because I'm not just a rich punk like him, nothing was handed to me, I took it."

Erik relaxed slightly, easing the pressure of his gun on Eddie. "How does Sanfino's former thug buddy land Ellie here, and strike it rich?"

Eddie knew what Jamie would say and it was only that that kept her willing to wait for him to diffuse things. She could have overpowered Erik Ortiz without breaking a sweat now that he'd slacked off, but she knew this was not the time to drop her diva wife act. She needed to pick her moment to flip the switch carefully.

Jamie continued coolly passing individual truths as one complete lie. "I took freelance bodyguard security jobs, a few in the city, usually women, all turned into casual flings. I met Ellie two years later out here in the Hamptons during a stretch where I was keeping fans away from Jay-Z. We fell in love fast, got married once that ended and she taught me about the world of stock investment, worked for quite a while, but eventually got mixed up with Armin Financial, you know the rest."

Erik gave a reluctant exhale. He responded bluntly, "Better safe than sorry, Jimmy." They put their guns away. He patted Jamie gently on the shoulder.

Jamie smiled casually. He patted Erik twice on the back before elbowing him hard in the gut, whispering threateningly while he held him by the collar. "Like I said you should have listened to your dad, attack my wife again and I will mess up your face, permanently…got it."

He nodded weakly with a groan, "fine."

Jamie helped Erik to his feet and then turned to Eddie. He checked for bruising. "You good?"

Eddie nodded sounding uptight. "Yeah, thanks for handling him."

Erik sounded furious as he stood up again. "Handling me? No, that's what I would do to you! Don't go mouthing off just because your husband landed a cheap shot, see how you like it!" He drew his gun again, firing a shot that her.

She dove aside as he fired, but the bullet hit flesh. It pierced the narrowest portion of her chest on the left side and exited immediately, landing in the front of a nearby closed dumpster.

Eddie stood up, albeit gingerly, she was not gravely hurt but it was considerably more than a flesh wound. She was breathing heavily. To her credit, she stayed in character. Her voice was heated and winded, as she staggered. "What the hell is he doing? Thin-skinned moron, do you always shoot women who hurt your feelings?" Blood was falling steadily onto the ground from where Eddie was hit by the shot.

Erik hissed irritatingly, "Stuck up bitch, talk again I'll kill you!"

Jamie snapped reacting like lighting. His eyes bulged angrily, as he rushed Erik, grabbing him by his coat and ramming him up against the alley wall. His voice was a venomous shout. "I don't think you heard me!" He headbutted Erik, causing whiplash as he dropped his gun. He continued with an increased rage. "Did you think I was messing around!" He punched him three times in the face, each one harder than the last. Jamie lifted him well off the ground with adrenaline, a feat due to their height difference. Jamie's inflection showed superiority. "Take the loyalty test and shove it up your ass! The Sanfino's got canned because they are morons, at least Noble was smart enough to know when he was in over his head, I haven't heard or seen him since I saved his ass from being murdered! I'm not some petty, entitled snitch!" Jamie threw Erik back on his feet but kept a firm grip. He was still seething." If you're ready to stop screwing around and actually consider referring us to your family, exchange a phone number, but we're leaving whether you do or not, because I've run out of patience with you tonight and if I don't leave now, you'll end up in that dumpster over there!"

Eddie called impatiently from a few feet away. "Are we done?"

He responded coolly. "Yeah, I think he's got it, are you okay babe?"

Eddie sounded a little out of it. Keeping cover through the pain was difficult. "Been better." She stared down Erick walking gingerly. Eddie let this go once, not again. She was blunt. "I don't have nearly as much patience as Jimmy, and I can tell if you were going to kill me, you'd have done so already." She became irritated, "That stretch in the Hamptons we were both Jay-Z's bodyguards, and the biggest thing we came across, surprise attacks by crazed fans." She stomped hard on Erik's right foot; which thanks to sharp stiletto heels, made him buckle even worse than when Jamie punched him earlier.

Eddie was blunt. "That's for shooting me!" She fell to her knees, "we could have done this peacefully, stupid kid."

Jamie looked cross. "Did we pass the eye test, or should I throw you in that dumpster?" Erik nodded, and Jamie relented, holding Eddie to a stand again.

After they exchanged numbers. Erik sounded flat. "I will bring you to my father once we have a chance to check out your background info, we're detailed so it will be a day or two before you hear from me. I don't know how he will feel about hiring Ellie though."

Eddie scoffed, leaning against Jamie for support now. She'd taken off her jacket and was holding it in a clump against her wound which was bleeding moderately. "What, dad doesn't think women can get their hands dirty? Your foot should convince him enough, that's going to hurt for a few days, along with the rest of Jimmy's work on your face."

Jamie held her tightly, he knew Eddie was probably succumbing physically and mentally to the wound, but Erik Ortiz's literal cheap shot was not going to blow things. He smiled at her warmly as he continued. "Ellie plays overzealous on purpose when we're looking at special jobs and every time, she picks her moment to flip the switch from dense to smart and capable. She's taught me a thing or two about restraint…must be the Serbian in her. The next time you want to jump someone, you might want to actually bring your brother. We're a package deal, take as much time as you need. I'm sure the rest of your family is smarter than you were tonight, so we're content to wait."

Erik's face drained of color at the idea that what he'd just been subjected to was restrained in any way and for the first time in his life, he wished he'd listen to his father's warning.

VIII

Jamie and Eddie couldn't chance to go to the hospital,p as harsh as it was, gunshot wounds were reported to the police and that kind of attention could blow their cover. Sure, their cover identities were public record, but it was a chance they could not take. Jamie did have a choice of whether to drive back to the city and their apartment or stay on Long Island, he ultimately settled on the former because Eddie wanted the simplicity and coziness of their real home, even having sustained a gunshot she protested until he caved. She was lightheaded and woozy by the time they made it back, a little after eleven o'clock.

The journey from the car to the door sapped the last of Eddie's energy. She was somewhere between annoyance and exhaustion. Her voice reflected that when she spoke. "I can't walk anymore."

Jamie nodded holding her up, "Gunshot wounds will do that."

Eddie gave a weak laugh. "Ironically, it's these damn heels that really did me in, they make great weapons but they're terrible to walk in…"

Jamie laughed, "I've got it." He gingerly scooped her up in his arms and opened the door which he'd already unlocked.

Eddie responded to the sudden scoop pretty lightheaded. "Okay, getting shot is worse." Jamie chuckled as he carried her over the threshold, stopping to pull off her heels and toss them aside, neither of them cared where they landed.

Jamie carried her to the couch setting her horizontally, so she could prop her feet against the arm. He sat on the edge of his coffee table and gingerly unwrapped her jacket from the bullet wound. It was covered in blood.

Jamie stared at the wound through her dress, it seemed to be at her midsection, but he wasn't sure. He glanced at her apologetically. "I need to get a better look."

Eddie smiled in amusement, "I'm sure you do."

Jamie looked at her pointedly. "Eddie, the blood is still pretty fresh. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen what's underneath already."

She chuckled with a further amused expression, "Fine, but you better not use my attempt to cut out the fuss as an excuse to get handsy. I had other plans in mind with you tonight when I dressed in just this." Eddie loosened her dress from her shoulders before he carefully took it off, both of them disappointed it was bloodstained so badly.

Looking clearly, he saw that she'd been pierced in the left side of her midsection. Specifically, around the navel. The front of the wound was pooling with blood. He retrieved her dress and held it balled up, against the wound.

Eddie frowned dejectedly, her inflection sad, "What a waste, I looked hot in that."

Jamie smiled agreeably. "You still look hot, especially in the buff, and the bullet wound adds something to that."

Eddie smiled, "And yet, you're not even distracted by all my messy glory, chivalry at its finest." She sighed again, "Still, I really like that dress."

He smiled admittingly, "I'm preoccupied, not blind." She laughed as he continued checking the wound, now from the back, his couch was soaked with blood, it was bigger than they anticipated. " The dress was already a goner and I cannot stitch you up until the bleeding stops, it's worse than we thought, but at least it went right through in an ideal spot."

Eddie responded with irritation. "I still can't believe he was that thin-skinned."

Jamie nodded. "Luckily you're thick-skinned."

Eddie scoffed through a chuckle shaking her head, "kick a girl when she's literally wounded and vulnerable. Nice couchside manner Reagan. That's the last time I go undergarment free for you." She kicked him in the head with her right foot. Jamie was defensive, "Ouch, hey, I meant it literally because he shot you so close and it should have been worse, you could be unconscious, thank god you're not." Eddie recoiled suddenly, increasing pressure on the wound.

She was irritated at the pain and her breathing was briefly sharp. "Ugh, it hurts to move that much. I can't believe I'm dealing with this because a barely legal kid was overly sensitive."

Jamie moved to the half of the couch vacated by her legs and then propped her feet back up on the arm. He responded gently blunt with her legs resting on his lap now. "Don't move again until the bleeding stops, that's an order from your Sargent."

She managed a small smile. "Understood, sir."

Jamie stroked her hair slowly. He spoke absentmindedly as he watched her chest rise and fall slowly "Sorry we cannot go to the hospital, I really messed up, if you died I would never recover." Jamie took off his shirt and replaced it with the dress as a plug for the wound. Then he kissed her tenderly locking lips for a lingering few minutes.

Eddie shook held his face with her left hand. She was dismissive. "Jamie, I'm okay you beat yourself up too much. I was the one who opted to play self-centered diva…this is not your fault." She met his forehead again and they kissed again. She continued with a practical tone "Besides, a hospital is probably exactly what he was hoping for when he shot me. That family is extremely careful with the help they hire, the pitfall of a deep cover assignment is gunshot wounds get reported at hospitals, and we can't do that. It'll compromise our cover."

He sighed amid a nod, "Can't be much riskier than running into an ex-fiancée while you're trying to get in with a crime family and then finding out she is inadvertently associated with them."

She put her free hand on his chest. "We'll adjust on the fly when we need to, you did pretty well today."

Jamie grew a guilty expression. "Not good enough obviously." He kissed her tenderly on the forehead before he spoke again. You were fantastic though. Now, I will go get stuff to treat the wound and do a patch job, keep that pressure."

Eddie was surprised, "You can do that?"

Jamie smiled with solace as he squeezed her hand. "Yeah, Linda made a point to teach everyone in the family how to treat small and moderate bullet wounds, because of all she'd seen as a nurse. She always said it would be irresponsible of her not to make sure an entire family in law enforcement knew how to patch up gunshot wounds. Even Jack, Shawn, and Niki learned."

Eddie smiled she sounded happy despite the hole in her side, "I really lucked out with you Jameson Reagan. Lawyer, Cop, and Doctor…triplet threat. Sorry about the blood stain on the couch."

Jamie shook his head with a dismissive chuckle. "14 years combined on the job, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, I'm worried about you, not the couch." She laughed.

Jamie carefully maneuvered Eddie so he could get up from the couch and get medical supplies from the bathroom. Then he grabbed as many clean sheets as he could spare to use once and throw away, covering the bed in the bedroom with them.

Jamie gently roused Eddie who was in and out now, "Hey beautiful, time to take care of that hole in your side."

She smiled, "Is this where you put on scrubs?"

Jamie rolled his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. "Even with a bullet wound Edit Janko is still cracking jokes. Hold on to my neck okay, I set up the bed to patch you up." Eddie draped her arms lazily around Jamie's neck meeting his forehead with hers.

She felt emotional now. It was the first time he'd ever called her Edit, and somehow, she didn't mind hearing him say it. Her inflection was sad again. "And to think I had something else planned in there tonight, instead you're being my medic, not that I mind but I wanted to take care of you for once, you always take care of me." She cried silently.

He was very quiet and soft-spoken. "You already have Eddie, you saved my life. I'm returning the favor." She couldn't believe that there was someone she felt this safe with, wounded and vulnerable he was nothing but gentle with her.

Jamie gently scooped Eddie from the couch and carried her into the bedroom laying her onto the makeshift sterile surface he'd set up. Then he washed his hands at the bathroom sink. Coming back, he grabbed what he needed from the supplies he brought: alcohol cotton swabs, bandages, sutures…the usual's for this kind of thing.

Jamie grabbed Eddie's hand looking at her tenderly, checking in before he started, "are you cold?"

Eddie nodded lazily matching her inflection, "No, just tired, and wishing I could take a shower."

He sounded sympathetic and yet practical. "When it hurts to stretch, I don't think that is realistic, but I will get done as quick as I can, so we can get you dressed and in bed."

Eddie sounded awestruck now. "You know what makes you so great? I'm laying here, wounded, in the buff no less, and your only focus is patching me up and getting me dressed. You're a perfect gentleman, unlike the majority of men I've known."

Jamie knew she was referencing the various assaults and other traumatic events where her body was exploited in humiliation. His inflection was gentle. "I'll be whatever you need me to be whenever you need it, and right now that is your medic." He cautioned her as he started. "I have to sterilize this first, this is probably going to hurt a lot, that hole you've got is pretty messy."

Eddie slipped in one more joke. "Why does this suddenly feel similar to that episode of handmaid's tale where June gives birth by herself, a lot of pain and screaming."

Jamie chucked again, "I think your missing something before labor, but when that labor thing comes you won't be alone. I've delivered a baby before remember, I'm an expert."

Eddie grinned ironically, "Well, I planned on doing that first part tonight, until this mess." She gestured to the open wound in the left side of her midsection. Her inflection turned dry. "Getting shot didn't kill me, but it definitely killed my mood."

Jamie rolled his eyes as he exhaled with laughter. "You are still so corny."

She smiled from ear to ear. "Yeah, and you know you still love it."

He smiled back, "yeah I do, now brace yourself." She nodded and began taking slow deep breaths. A moment later her medic set to work.

It wasn't labor pain but tolerating cleaning of the wound was excruciating. She struggled back when she was shot while wearing a vest, this was much worse, it seared as he worked alcohol-soaked cotton swabs in the wound and she couldn't keep from screaming every few minutes

Jamie held her hand tightly after finished cleaning her wound from both sides. He was very apologetic and consoling. "I'm done with the alcohol, you're a trooper Janko."

Eddie responded slightly exasperated, "Does it look as bad as it feels?" Now that was eye level Jamie noticed flakes present in the wound, tiny but had to come out.

Jamie sounded calculating, "There's debris inside, which explains why it hurts when you make sudden large movements. It is cutting the skin."

Eddie exhaled sharply, "I thought it went straight through?"

He sighed with a measured response. "Bullets are a bit unpredictable, they travel so fast through the body especially at close range the shells inside the case can break apart when it pierces the skin. Looks like that's what happened here. The alcohol must have brought them to the surface. I have to get the tweezers, it's the one thing I didn't grab."

Eddie looked at Jamie with exhaustion, "Jamie, I'm tired…"

Jamie nodded sympathetically. "I just have to operate a bit. Try to hang in there."

She gave a weak smile…" I hope you were good at operation when you were a kid. She frowned in frustration. "I would sit up, but it would hurt too much, and I would just fall over."

Jamie chuckled, "I was, never messed up, I actually got pretty fast." He kissed her before returning to a stand with a smile. "You are doing fine Eddie. Let me grab you some sweatpants too, I'm not working at or below the belt, so let's get that comfortable at least." He came back a few minutes later helping her into a pair of his Harvard sweats and then kneeled at her wound sight, tweezers in hand. Now that the bleeding had stopped there was no reason she couldn't be half dressed, so at least there was that.

She smiled with a chuckle, "Thanks, what's ironic is I wanted to take your mind off of Sydney tonight, but not like this…I wanted to try and get pregnant, so you would have been working below the belt."

He smiled from ear to ear. "I think you're jumping the gun, not that I would have minded taking a risk."

Eddie grinned sadly, Well now is not the right time obviously, because that plan literally got shot down and there is no bigger sign than that."

Jamie reassured her with a confident smile. "Don't worry, when we're ready it won't be hard, the only thing I'm better at than delivering babies, is making them, remember?"

She held his hand before momentarily before falling back on the edge of the bed with an amused look. "I didn't forget about that, Jamie."

He turned his attention back to her gunshot wound with a smile. "Good, they'll be time to test it out when things are less dangerous, for now, I have to play operation here." She exhaled slowly to brace herself.

Removing the bullet debris was tricky, and Eddie winced sharply several times. She happened to glance at the nightstand clock at some point while Jamie continued playing medic, it was just after midnight, she closed her eyes, succumbing to fatigue.

Quite sometime later…Eddie was wide awake again, fully dressed. She sat up on the spot. "Jamie!" Her mind was fuzzy.

Jamie appeared in the doorway of the bedroom a few moments later, concern on his face. "I'm here, take it easy, you'll pop the stitching and it will start bleeding again."

She sounded exasperated, "Where have you been?"

He came all the way into the bedroom kneeling against the bed as he held her hand. "I was scrubbing the blood stain out of the couch, my dad comes over here regularly if he catches something that obvious, I will never hear the end of it and his hovering will get even more irritating."

Eddie was breathing purposefully, she tried to cut through the fog. "Something feels heavy, did you finish with me asleep or something?"

Jamie gently squeezed her hand nodding with a calm expression, "You're all set, you've got a sweater on over some pretty layered medical band-aids."

She was clearly disoriented. "I slept through the rest of it?"

Jamie filled her in with a tired smile. He nodded, "The bullet debris in the front was what was causing you pain, it was metal flakes, remember? Once I removed all of that, you passed out."

Eddie nodded but vaguely. "I can't believe you finished patching me up and getting me in bed and dressed and I slept through it."

Jamie exhaled awkwardly. "That was interesting to say the least, especially when I had to patch the back of you. I rolled you on your side, you kept flopping back to your back. I finally just propped you up with a partially folded body pillow, so I could finish, by the time I stitched both sides you were snoring like a log." He looked apologetic now. "I must have stitched too tightly and got a little over cautious with the medical taping, the pressure probably woke you up."

Eddie got carefully out of bed and walked to the mirror lifting up her shirt. Sure enough, two or three medical band-aids were layered on top of each other on both sides. She ran her hand over the front in amazement, it felt funny but wasn't painful at all.

Jamie came up from behind smiling. "Checking my handy work, Mrs. Reagan?"

Eddie reached back with one hand touching his cheek as they smiled into the mirror. "We're not there yet, Jamie."

He shrugged dismissively. "maybe not, but the ceremony is just a formality at this point. Something to make it official."

Eddie smiled in agreement. She noticed the clock in the reflection of the mirror…close to 2:30 am. She had clearly lost track of time. She asked Jamie curiously, "How long have you been finished patching me up?"

Jamie was quiet. "Almost an hour and a half; I wasn't too far from coming to bed when you shouted for me, looked like you jolted awake." He was worried now. "I must've really gone overboard with everything."

Eddie turned around burying her head in Jamie's chest. She whispered quietly, "No, that's not it…I can still hear the shot, I went back there." Jamie hugged her tightly, guiding her back onto the bed where they sat down. Her response was drained, a tired plead. "Do you think that maybe, you could hold me the rest of the night? I don't mean to sound like I can't handle the PTSD, but… "

Jamie shook his head, gently silencing her. "No, I know." Eddie's ringed hand instinctively reached for his free one. She looked hard at him, emotion was welling behind her eyes and in her voice. "I need you."

Jamie suddenly had a redux of four years earlier, and the incident caused by Andy's reckless desire to play street cop. He wasn't an overly sensitive person, even his I love you wasn't overly emphatic. He always kept things to the point or else light and comedic, but when Eddie pleaded for him in this way… If he had a Kryptonite, something that cracked or else destroyed his typically stoic nature, it was those three words and the overwhelmed way she said them when close calls on the job finally caught up with her.

The inflection of those three words as she spoke them made Jamie's deja-vu very real. He responded quietly as he pulled her gently into his chest. "I'm not going anywhere." Just like back then Eddie fell apart sobbing quietly in his arms again, and much the same, they slept in each other's arms, once she finally stopped crying enough to fall asleep again.

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A/N: More to come. Hopefully, the length extra length paid off for readers. I was the energizer bunny on this one.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: An important note before you read. This chapter contains sexual content which usually is somewhere between **T and M Rated.** I mark this in **bold (scenes IV and V)** so those who wish can just scroll past them and I don't have to censor myself, because let's face it Blue bloods does that enough. (I think there's been one sexually suggestive scene [and it was Jamie with a fling] in 187 episodes) I know it's a cop show but occasionally showing people (ahem, Jamie and Eddie) between the sheets a few times here and there would be nice.

That's where writing is useful, I always put emotional intimacy into these occasions because it really bugs me when writers make sex just physical. I don't want to read that kind of thing if characters don't, you know, talk to each other. The activity itself and the physical reactions that come with it don't count as a dialogue between characters either (advice to all other fanfic writers out there) so you won't find that in my writing of it, I definitely have Jamie and Eddie come up for air.

Anyway, I digress to the story! Leave reviews please

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Jamie and Eddie fueled themselves with coffee that morning. It was strange to not have to put on an NYPD uniform, able to instead wear professional street clothes to work, and that meant they had options. Her gunshot wound meant that Eddie decided to dress up in comfortable clothes; lots of basic colors—whites, blacks, greens—nothing that would irritate the now healed bullet wound in the left side of her gut. She settled on a black top and her typical jacket and blue dress pants.

Eddie remarked flatly as she joined Jamie in the kitchen. Her face was irritated when she spoke. "You know, the most annoying thing about recently taken a gunshot wound…it's still a little uncomfortable to stretch which makes it hard to reach everything, but you did a great job it's healing over already."

Jamie deadpanned with sexual innuendo looking modest. "I could have helped with that." He smiled at her while he went about prepping his breakfast shake, having finished his coffee during Eddie's shower.

Eddie tilted her head smiling in amusement. "Not our thing Jamie. Suggestive comments and blunt back and forth, sure, but showering together…" She shrugged sounding dry. "that's just a stereotypical mushy couple thing." Eddie put her arms around him. "I love that you skip that kind of stuff and get right to the sex, though I can't help but think you've got more up your sleeve than what we've done so far."

He raised his eyebrows. "Is that a future challenge?"

Eddie looked at him suggestively. "I'm sure we can kick things up quite a bit. She turned humorously dry." Unless I get shot in a compromising spot again."

Jamie focused on the last of her words sounding pained. "Not funny, Eddie."

Eddie grabbed his hand sounding reassuring. "Jamie, I'm fine."

Jamie squeezed it tightly responding with solace. "Thank god." He continued hesitantly. "Let's not joke about you getting shot again, okay."

She met his forehead. "It'll take a lot more than a bullet to stop me. She kissed him gently, "I really do appreciate you being gentle with me though."

He raised his eyebrows. "You seem a bit tentative whenever we have anyway."

Eddie touched his face with her engagement ring hand sounding quiet. "Yeah sorry about that." She decided to wear the ring in public since they were not attached to the NYPD at ground level right now. Honestly, she was sick of hiding it and knew that the people they would be working with on the 14th floor probably already knew and anyone else that came and went she could just hide her hand or say no comment.

Jamie nodded smiling gently, "Hey, I love you."

She smiled back looking at him in that Jamie exclusive way. "I love you too."

He sighed with an air of boredom as they broke apart. "Now, let's go be primary aid the commissioner, I still can't believe he orchestrated this."

Eddie looks at Jamie with her own level of solace as she grabs a quick fix breakfast before they leave. "At least he cares enough to protect you, not to mention he is being tactful about it. Her face turned downcast. "I wish my dad was like that, I have to live with the stigma of having a con-artist and a felon for a father, who threw money at me, instead of being there for me when I needed him." She looked and sounded scarred from something but did not elaborate.

Jamie reluctantly kept perspective knowing that she wasn't talking about his con scams. "Alright, you win I won't complain. Let's go." Eddie nodded as they left for their new day jobs.

II

Frank responded habitually as he entered his office on the 14th floor of 1PP. "So, who or what is up first today?"

Jamie and Eddie looked at Frank with a hesitant stare. "Us…"

He furrowed his brow sounding blunt. "You know the whole point of having Baker do a run through was, so I didn't have to do it."

They fought a chuckle, Eddie responded hesitantly. "It's not that, somethings come up?"

Frank grew a quizzical look. "Professional or personal?"

Eddie glanced at Jamie before responding bluntly. "Both, it's about the Ortiz family."

Frank was thoroughly confused. "How is anything about your assignment personal, at all?"

Jamie folded his arms sounding dry and annoyed. Sydney is their lawyer dad."

Frank tapped his hand with a sullen expression. "And people just call things coincidences. He was blunt as he sighed. "Close the doors and sit down. I have a feeling I'll need both my hats for this one." They did. "Is it going to be a problem for you to do the assignment?" He was looking hard at Jamie.

Jamie shook his head. "No, not personally, but she's unwittingly stuck right in the middle of everything and I don't want her potential death on my hands."

Eddie was looking at the situation far more harshly. Her inflection and expression were blunt. "She's not cut out for a relationship, let alone remaining cool under pressure. If these people get the slightest hint that she is a flake they will shoot her."

Frank sighed "you're sure about that?"

Eddie nodded with a blunt expression. "Yes, they shot me just for an inadvertent insult."

Frank raised his eyebrows. "Did you stay dark?"

Eddie smiled dryly "Really, that's it? No, I'm glad my future daughter-in-law is okay or something?"

Frank nodded sympathetically, "Sorry, it's been seven years since the family was involved in a long-term undercover assignment and I'm used to cutting to the chase with other people." He smiled passively, "Are you okay?"

Eddie smiled appreciatively. "Well, it still feels worse than when I took one in the vest, but I'm okay. Thanks for asking." She returned to his question with a casual nod. "Yes, we stayed dark, my partner does a fantastic patch job."

Jamie continued with a rather tense expression. "Sydney creates a major problem and I don't have the slightest clue how to get her out of harm's way without potentially blowing the cover."

Frank looked at Jamie expectantly, his inflection was calm yet blunt. "Your other hat is the answer, you just have to put on and play the part."

Jamie had no further clarity. "The mob mentality won't help me here, dad."

Frank wore a rhetorical expression, responding pointedly. "it will when you combine it with a law degree, which you earned even though you decided not to follow in your mother and sister's footsteps pursuing it as a career, it still counts just as much."

The light went on in Jamie's head, comprehension was all over his face now. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Frank's expression was gauging now. "What's obvious becomes less obvious when thinking emotionally, like it or not you can't just let go of crossing paths with Sydney again, and considering you'll need to embrace your cover, I would leave most of the heavy lifting to Eddie." He looked between them. "She's dethatched in this regard, you are not."

Eddie grabbed Jamie's hand, "I don't mind doing the heavy lifting here. The honest truth is Sydney means nothing to me outside of a civilian, cop, dynamic."

Frank considered the matter settled. He moved on. "Garret and Sid will be here shortly."

Sure enough, Garret, Sid, and Baker arrived a couple moments later. Frank was thrown off by Baker's reappearance as they entered.

He sounded confused. "Didn't I indefinitely dismiss you, Abigail."

Sid cut in nonchalantly. "We tried to stop her boss."

Garret smiled with an air of spoiling something. "Wouldn't take no for an answer, she was in the lobby before we were."

Baker wore a passive but insisting look. "I'm just here to shadow for today. I did not want to just throw Jamie and Eddie right into the fire."

They smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

Frank nodded with an air of parental instructions. Okay, but after today take the time off, that's an order, Baker."

She nodded. "Of course, sir."

Sid turned to Jamie brightly. "Working with the level-headed Reagan brother and his partner will be a nice change of pace. Danny and Baez were unpredictable, gave me a headache."

Baker smiled thinking more personally. "Congratulations on the engagement too."

Garret piggybacked sounding impressed, "You two would thrive in public relations, nobody knows your engaged outside this room."

Jamie chuckled casually. "She is already my DCPI."

Sid chuckled with some level disbelief. "Between you and me all my female partners used to drive me crazy. You two are an enigma, so much time on the beat and now he's a boss with her on his squad, and you want a lifetime, I give you credit."

Eddie shrugged. "I would rather keep an eye on him then wonder every day about his safety, its that simple and he feels the same way." She seemed to fix Frank with a blunt stare. "Unlike what a lot of people think the engagement doesn't change how we do our jobs." Frank stared at Eddie through a huff, but he was more annoyed that his counter stares had little effect on Eddie, especially on this issue.

Sid noticed the veiled dig, he gave an air of acknowledgment. "Hey, I didn't buy it till after I checked your files and got professional word of mouth, but it holds up more than enough."

Frank was blunt turning his attention elsewhere. "What am I dealing with today?"

Jamie cut to the chase very businesslike. "Nothing the rest of the morning: new mayor at 12:30; just a meet and greet, governor Mendez at 1:00…"

Eddie continued, "CompStat meeting at 2:00, then a round of precinct inspections at 3:00 to close your schedule for the day; 7, 18, 29, 35, 57."

Frank nodded, thank you."

They stood up, "We'll be at our desk." They nodded leaving with Baker.

Back outside of Franks office, Eddie was curious as they sat down around Baker's desk. "How do you handle the gaps in the day where you're just sitting at your desk?"

She sounded passively blunt. "Honestly, I'm constantly taking calls, escorting people in and out, coordinating with Garret and Sid on things that happen on the ground in a given day, prepping and modifying schedules. I don't join scheduled meetings, but I lend an ear when he needs it just like Garret and Sid do. The rest of the job is as part of his protective detail. Today is pretty packed."

Jamie sounded full of irony, "New Mayor, and governor Mendez in the same day, so much for starting slow."

After scheduled events for the day were complete Frank summoned everyone into his office. He sounded miffed. "Now what to do about the elephant in the room."

Jamie looked confused, so did everyone else. He went for levity. "I hope you're not talking about us?" Eddie shifted uncomfortably beside Jamie.

Frank looked offended now. His brow furrowed as he answered. "Well, thanks for jumping to that conclusion but no, I am not talking about you." He sighed before continuing. "I am talking about Governor Mendez's crime bill."

Garret gave a foreboding nod. "Oh that, at least he is trying to streamline the overcrowding in prisons."

Frank was more than animated. "Undercutting the broken windows policy and putting low-level offenders back on the street sooner, means the crime rate increases."

Garret sighed, "It is only low-level first-time offenders, and I heard whispers about who could be backing the bill."

Frank looked impatient now. "What kind of whispers?"

Garret was blunt. "The kind you aren't going to like."

Frank shrugged, "Well I kind of figured that much, but I still need specifics."

He was still blunt. "the ADA Bureau Chief is among those rumored to be supporting the bill."

Sid looked at Frank sympathetically. "Ouch, didn't see that one coming huh boss."

Jamie cautioned his father. "Don't jump to conclusion yet, we heard not too long ago that the governor agreed to push through a sex trafficking bill." He continued looking uneasy. "Having been on the street, it is one of the most appalling crimes committed with similar frequency to smaller crimes…" "We busted a ring a few years ago; girls living in squalor exploited and subjected to physical and sexual abuse."

Eddie piggybacked, with a tense inflection. "Forcing women to testify to convict is an unfair ask especially if the trauma is severe." These words seemed weighed down similar to early this morning, something Jamie noticed. She continued more calmly. "I'm sure she thought carefully before agreeing to scratch the governors back."

He mulled quietly. "I'm not, Erin is new to this level of cutthroat politics, something tells me she pushed for the new sex-trafficking bill and his price was advanced support of his crime bill."

Eddie insisted. "Small price to pay if it gives victims the choice of testifying. She continued objectively calm and blunt. "For the record, I don't necessarily like the explosion of the me-too movement. It attaches a certain amount of stigma to men and women; a lingering hug or a moderate compliment has become grounds for complaints, it's a bit ridiculous. We need to get everything back to a middle ground, weed out what is petty from what is real and traumatic." Again, the end of her words held raw emotional weight. Jamie supposed it was from various things he already knew about and had been witness to, but he was starting to think there could be something else Eddie was carrying around that she kept to herself.

Baker smiled, "she's already acting like me, I guess I didn't need to shadow."

Frank let out a slow sigh, "Crime is down in all but 12 of our 77 precincts per CompStat numbers; 85% of this city. I'm not adding my support to the bill until I can hear from the DA's office. Put a meeting with her on the schedule for tomorrow. He smiled again. "Thanks for helping with the precinct inspections. Cops are usually too formal when the commissioner pops up to catch anything. Peers testing the water means rank and file act naturally."

Jamie and Eddie both nodded. "No problem." They knew that they needed to stay prepared because the protect part of the protective detail could be necessary at any point of any day.

III

Jamie and Eddie returned home that evening feeling pretty awkward that they had so much free time, it was something that they were not used to after having to work nights so often. Eddie casually turned on ESPN, plopping herself on the couch.

Jamie joined her grabbing a beer. He was smiling with satisfaction. "I always love that ESPN is your first choice for TV, not typical."

Eddie shrugged. "Football was always big our house, and I guess baseball and basketball rubbed off on me too."

Jamie sighed his arm around her back. "Both of this city's NFL teams suddenly suck."

Eddie laughed squeezing in closer. "Well, the Jets have been terrible for quite a while, and now they drafted an interception prone quarterback, Darnold is the worst of the QB's in this draft class." The Giants should have taken a QB and didn't, just can't except that Eli Manning's best days are behind him."

Jamie couldn't disagree with her assessment. He sounded irritated. "It's at the point where I'm just going to side with whoever climes out of the gutter first because they are a mess. I was hoping the Jets would trade to number one and get Mayfield, but the Browns have a competent GM now, so I guess we're stuck with Darnold, maybe he'll grow out of throwing picks, but I have a feeling Mayfield is the next Drew Brees, and I'd rather not have waited around."

Eddie nodded sighing, "I feel like the Eagles are wasting Carson Wentz."

Jamie looked uncomfortable, he scoffed lightly shaking his head. "I always block out that you were raised as a Philly fan, your football team is coming off the best upset in Super Bowl history, don't complain."

She shook her head, "It was an observation, not a complaint. Eddie sounded caught in nostalgia for a minute. She smiled "Going to all the pro-Philly games with my grandparents was one of my happy memories, a tradition we continued even after my dad was arrested until they died. Sort of my Sunday dinner."

He smiled and relented, "Lead with that if you ever watch sports with the rest of my family, it will lessen the grief they give you rooting for Philly teams."

Eddie smiled reluctantly, switching subjects. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, about Sydney…"

Jamie shrugged sounding indifferent. "I don't really care, I can't hold back on being Jimmy Riordan because Sydney has thin-skin. That isn't my concern anymore, you are. He finished his beer turning to her with a gentle expression. "How are you doing anyway?"

Eddie sighed, "I'm fine, I was sick of the med Band-Aids, so I didn't cover it again after my shower. How often are you going to ask me that?"

Jamie held her hand and gazed tensely. "Every day until I feel better about it."

Eddie squeezed both her hands in his leaning in with measured solace. "Jamie, I am okay. Really, stop beating yourself up so badly." She looked down at the couch with a worried inflection. The blood stain is completely gone, and I know you were on your knees for hours scrubbing it out like a punishment."

Jamie sighed, "I, can't…I've almost lost you three times in a matter of months."

Eddie looked at him with a gauging stare. "Jamie…" She turned off the TV, pulling him to a stand. She leaned into his forehead. Her inflection was quiet. "You're deflecting away from Sydney."

Jamie was blunt. "Sydney Davenport stopped being my problem once she broke up with me. I don't care about her anymore, I only care about you."

Eddie put her arms around his neck. "you're a lot of things Jamie, but petty and sulking is not you." Eddie shook her head smiling passively. "I guess there is only one way I can convince you I am okay, come with me."

Jamie was resistant. "But you were just shot yesterday."

Eddie met his forehead in a firm whisper. "Stop." He nodded. She firmly pulled him by the arm into the bedroom shutting the door.

 **IV**

Eddie connected lips with him tenderly, removing her jacket in the process. After several minutes she broke the kiss, gauging him with tentative eyes as she touched Jamie's face. He was always stuck inside his head when things went wrong, she understood that guilt...she reacted the same way.

She spoke with a tender expression. "You beat yourself up more than anyone I know, except me. Eddie put her arms around his neck. "I've told you so many times, my close calls are not your fault."

Jamie's hand came to rest lightly on her chest. He spoke painfully quiet. "I can't help it if I lost you…"

Eddie grabbed his face gently. She locked eyes with him, there was torture there. She responded with quiet emphasis. "Jamie, you didn't, and you won't, I'm okay." She took off her shirt (she was in matching blue lingerie) grabbing his hand as they met against the battle wound site etched on her body. Eddie chuckled quietly. "Do you think you were just a wannabe medic? Linda was a perfect teacher." She continued pointedly. "It sealed shut overnight, I removed the stitching and the bandaging before I showered today, no bleed." Eddie pressed their hands into the site for effect. "See? I'm fine."

Jamie sighed as Eddie's face betrayed her slightly. "Are you trying to drive me nuts?"

Eddie shook her head with a small smile. "I'm trying to help you remember that we can't worry about ifs and buts. We'll never survive this assignment if you worry about me like a fragile piece of glass. Besides, ifs and buts held us back for five years."

Jamie nodded reluctantly, blinking back emotion. "I'm sorry, I just love you so much, Eddie."

Eddie hugged herself to his body torn between mixed emotions. She gazed at him intently. "I know, I see it in you every day. Anytime I'm hurt, sad, happy, even when I'm mad at you, I see how much you love me, and I appreciate it so much; but it scares me too…the switches you flip on my behalf, that have nothing to do with Jimmy Riordan." She dropped her head against his. "The way you attack yourself when things go wrong with me." Her voice became a whisper mixed with admiration and worry. "It terrifies me sometimes, how much you love me, Jameson Reagan…that you could love me on an omnipresent level. I never believed that I could inspire that in a guy."

Jamie held her left hand tightly, playing with the engagement ring absentmindedly. He was stuck in her eyes as he whispered. "Eddie, everything I do I do for you." She kissed him in a long and lingering way as she took off the rest of her clothes and slowly took off his, eventually pulling him onto the bed. She smiled, "Let me return the favor for once.

Eddie overwhelmed his mouth with her tongue as she kissed him again. It was several minutes before she vacated Jamie's mouth. Her expression was calm and kind as she held his face. "I don't want you to lose yourself because of me, as much as you protect me, I think I need to protect you from yourself."

Jamie put his arms around Eddie's back looking at her with steady eyes. "Without you, I'm already lost. When I watched you get shot the first time and then my stubbornness led you back to Barry, I nearly broke from the pain of losing you to someone else." He sighed gazing at her entire body before his eyes came to rest on the bullet wound that he'd patched at the left of her abdomen, grazing it gently with his fingers. Jamie was overwhelmed with emotion as he continued. "Then you got shot again yesterday, and I knew once and for all …you're everything to me, Eddie, with the nature of the job, life without you plays on a loop in my head, anytime something happens. The end of his words held clear pain. "I can't lose you, not after I've already lost-"

Eddie talked gently over him with a hand on his chest wide-eyed. "Jamie, stop…your heart is pounding so fast you'd think we were pinned down in a firefight with bullets flying. Relax!" She sealed her lips to his in a long, slow lingering kiss.

It was not frantic but totally controlled with intent. Afterward, she took control, straddling him and set to a steady pace. Somewhere between the build-up and the climax, Jamie had a much different loop play in his head, one he'd wanted for years…mini Eddies running around a roomy house. Her refreshed willingness to have kids after witnessing the birth of a baby, and later saving one last year, let him start to form the idea that she would have his kids. Jamie normally wasn't much for philosophical thinking, but there was something about seeing Eddie in their children that calmed the annoying death loop that played regularly inside his head. At some point, Jamie's mind snapped back into the present.

He was laying with Eddie in his arms like she always was when they went to sleep at night. Jamie ran his fingers through her hair, he was just realizing how much Eddie was the ideal girl next store. Comfortable enough in her own skin that she never flaunted herself and yet beautiful enough to steal the focus of an entire room regardless of whether she dressed up or down. He'd seen her in her most disheveled, vulnerable moments and loved her even more because of on such occasions. Of course, he was not blind to her body. Even though she was short (5'4") he did not tower over her (5'10) making their interactions in close physical space entirely comfortable. Her figure was a slim hourglass and yet, Eddie wore Jamie's clothes comfortably when she wanted or could wow in a dress (she was a size 4; measuring 34-26-35) highlighting her chest, waist, and hips, all of which looked damn good. Even the way she looked like a teen dressed up like a cop while wearing the NYPD uniform, was a turn on for him. For Jamie, it did not matter what Eddie was wearing; or… if, like now, she wasn't wearing anything at all. Under any circumstance, Eddie always looked amazing.

Eddie noticed he'd come back to earth. She glided her lips up his chest and settled them against his mouth teasingly. Her inflection was quiet and amused. "You know, I'm not sure what to think when you just let me do all the work."

Jamie gave a quiet and contemplative response as he gently rubbed her legs while his eyes were fixed on the wound he had successfully fixed in the left of her lower gut. "Sorry I guess I got lost for a little while."

She chuckled softly smiling at his complacent gaze, "Where was that head of yours?"

Jamie sighed with a smile watching her chest rise and fall slowly. "I was thinking about the future, that's the other loop that plays in my head."

Eddie blushed, "What do you see?"

Jamie held his fiancée with an air of longing. "Daughters, mini Eddie's running around a house."

She was surprised, "No mini Jamie's?"

Jamie shrugged shaking his head. "Its mostly boys in my family. I would like to balance that a bit." He let himself smile as he held her hand. "Besides, seeing you in my kids…I've pictured that for years."

Eddie blushed deeper meeting his forehead with an ear to ear smile. "Now you're just brown nosing me."

Jamie was quiet. "It is easy for me with you, so the way I see it, if any potential daughters turn out like you, I'll have a head start as a father."

Eddie sounded playfully cocky. "You really think you could handle girls if they turn out like me? I'm not even sure if I could handle that."

Jamie smiled as he held her in his arms. "I've been told I like a challenge. Besides, you'll be a great mom."

Eddie let the association of mother wash over her. Her expression was something of an admission. "I never really thought of myself as a mom, my parents screw ups just always left me thinking the Janko line should end with me, but after last year… delivering a baby and rescuing one, I want to experience being a mother and everything that feels like. Knowing that I brought our children into the world, raising them together, giving them a happier life than I had. That kind of love is so, pure."

He had a profound stare now. "I always wanted kids, but it wasn't until I met you that I knew I wanted kids with you and no one else."

Eddie smiled with a grin, "It took me longer to get there, had to be okay with having them generally before I was okay with you being the father since you drive me crazy most of the time." She continued sounding mildly expectational of him. "What else have you've been holding out on me about for five years Reagan?"

Jamie was nonchalant. "I like watching you fill up on food, it's cute, and probably the thing I miss most about being on patrol with you, all the frequent snack breaks. I know when you don't eat at all something is horribly wrong."

Eddie was torn between laughter and annoyance. "I am a pretty severe tomboy most of the time, okay. I just never felt the need to be very feminine outside of maybe formal occasions and even then, it's only because I make a dress look really, really good."

Jamie wore an admiring look and praising inflection. "I love that you don't apologize for being a tomboy. You're a kick-ass cop with some shot and a kick-ass name to match…your major appetite and your ability to kid around not caring what people think…" He had a tight smile now. "I love to rile you up, because annoyed Eddie is a huge turn on for me, right up there with hungry Eddie." He sounded more and more impressed as he continued. "There is something about watching put away double or even triple the normal amount of food a person can eat, and then burn it off chasing perps that make me genuinely miss being on patrol with you." He finished highly complementary, now locked in the blue of Eddie's eyes. "You are feminine when you want to be and not just because you're a girl and being that way is socially correct. I think it's sexy you break those stereotypes, I always have."

Eddie rubbed his chest with a grateful smile. "I think you are the only other normal guy that is turned on by me. Every other one had some kind of an issue with my tomboyish ways. Josh was a sissy because I am a cop, and I eat so much food that Barry refused to pick up the check when we went out on dates."

Jamie scoffed. "They both annoyed me for different reasons."

Eddie was blunt, "They annoyed me too because they weren't you." She turned to her stomach and kissed Jamie again, parading her tongue around in his mouth for several minutes. When she was done, she glided her lips down his chest and eyed his member with a smile as she spoke. "You're the only person I want annoying me." She was blunt again. "Try not to check out this time!"

Jamie nodded through his grin like a scoff. "This is what you meant when you said that I'd be spoiled for life."

Eddie grinned back from his just above his other head. Her inflection was calm. "Hold on tight, Boy Scout I haven't given a blowjob before."

Whatever he thought he was in for, his expectations were shattered by reality, and yet there was nothing frantic or hormonal about it. Maybe it was the nature of their jobs but in the three times they had slept together, everything leading up to the sleeping was done with intent and careful premeditation. When either of them threw in something new, it took a little adjustment. During their first time together, the experience lasted several hours, mostly because they just wanted to explore each other, no matter how many rounds they went slow and steady was their thing.

Jamie made sure not to zone out this time, he'd never experienced a blowjob before…his sparse other experiences had been, typical, like going through the motions, and it struck him that he had never been truly in love with any woman—sex or not—before Eddie and they certainly weren't in love with him.

The experience was sensational, literally. He felt energy spread throughout his body as she went along, and she paced things enough that he could adapt to it. Before too long, Jamie glazed over as she went full tilt, again not frantically, but with intent. How she was doing it he did not care, it led to a climax where he could hear his own breathing and was shocked it was so loud, by the time she eventually finished.

Eddie released him carefully, and Jamie hitched as she did. She extended herself on his body again meeting his forehead with a smile. "That should hold me over for a little bit."

Jamie's breath was returning to normal, but he was clearly in a refractory period. He responded through uneven breathing. "Me too."

She kissed him tenderly to help him catch his breath. She spoke with a playful inflection and smiled teasingly. "I did say once you tapped this there was no going back, are you okay?"

Jamie smiled back with complacency. "If being spoiled for life includes things like that, what the hell was I waiting for?"

Eddie whispered longingly. "I've been wondering the same thing for years, if you only knew how long I've waited for the right guy, for you."

Jamie sounded almost puzzled. "Wait are you saying that you were…before me?"

Eddie responded with a dry chuckle. "Not technically, but I might as well be because before you it was just one guy, one other time, I was 16."

Jamie made an educated guess with a delicate inflection. "Awful first time in high school?"

Eddie sat up partially with a flat inflection in her response. "Yes…" She knelt on the bed in a full sitting position now.

Jamie noticed her continued tense expression, he sat up too. "Eddie it doesn't matter—"

Eddie cut him off quietly, sounding anxious. "Could you not talk." She hesitated, sounding even flatter. "This is, really hard…" Jamie nodded privately feeling uneasy about where things were going and not from awkwardness, he draped a blanket around both of them.

Eddie smiled a small appreciative smile as she started to talk again. "In high school, I was a loner. Sure, I was happy but only because money was a poor substitute for it. Eddie was completely flat as she continued. "It wasn't like I had any friends; girls hated me because I was a rich tomboy that looked better than their stereotypical view of a hot girl, and guys just saw me as a blond tomboy with boobs, which meant they saw the perfect excuse to make cringe-worthy passes at me." She continued sounded farther and farther removed from her own story as she kept going, almost on autopilot. "I met a guy my sophomore year that was a lot like you…he was a senior, but he seemed nice, treated me well, even doted on me…all kinds of mushy stuff a romantic boyfriend would do. Eventually told me he loved me and when his prom came around, he pulled out all the mushy stops you can think of and told me he booked a hotel room that if I was ready at the end of the night he was too and if I wasn't that it didn't matter." Her expression turned disgusted at the words she was saying like she'd played them over and, in her head, since she was 16. Jamie said nothing, offering his hand. She met it with her left, engaged, hand. She squeezed it with a vice gripe as she continued talking. "I was, and it was memorable because I thought I had found someone who loved me…I went to sleep that night feeling happy, really happy for once in my life." Emotional scars rose in her voice as she went on, "that all ended once the weekend ended and school started again. She became a level of sad Jamie had never seen before, not even the night she was coping with her first kill. Eddie was quiet fighting to stay composed. "He flaunted that he'd slept with me on his prom night." She did not cry as she continued, but her voice seemed to crack with tears. "He recorded the whole fucking thing on a hidden camera and passed it around the school like a merit badge." She finally succumbed to the tears that welled in her eyes as she revealed the last detail of her oldest scarring ordeal. "He'd been putting on a nice guy show the whole time just to bookend his senior year. Eddie was silently crying as she continued in a pained voice. "I was completely conned, and people all over the school taunted me with all kinds of puns until I graduated. Eddie steeled herself a bit. "I could handle the nicknames and the taunts because social media wasn't a thing and it stayed contained to the neighborhood, but… what really hurts is, it was all physical to him." She felt crushed by the realization all over again and sounded distraught. "He conned me into emotionally falling in love with him so that…" She could not finish and burst into tears.

Jamie pulled her into a tight embrace now, she did not have to finish. She got crushed emotionally and was left knowing that this moron played a long con just for more "shock value" on a video.

Jamie felt enraged at yet another gut punch in Eddie's life. His had all been bearable because he could see them coming and it was easier to cope. Everything that she had been through was like being blindsided by a bullet over and over for years and years. He squeezed her feeling annoyingly insufficient as Eddie began to breathe heavily trying to keep herself from falling completely apart. He sighed sounding pained for her. "If I had been there…"

She gathered herself and smiled appreciatively at his unfounded guilt. "I knew you'd find a way to blame yourself. I didn't even know you then, you can't save me from everything."

He sighed tempering his rage. "I know but no one deserves the kind of exploitation or humiliation you have had to deal with Eddie and this…It's grounds for statutory rape."

Eddie sighed. "18 or not, I gave consent."

Jamie sounded like a prosecutor in response. "Minors don't have the proper emotional or neurological development to truly give consent even if they think they do; statute of limitations on statutory rape saves this bastard legally but I'll kill him if I find him."

Eddie looked at Jamie worrisomely. "That's why I didn't say his name." She sighed. "Besides, he was eventually found out and expelled. Don't go thinking about street justice. My parents don't even know, I never told them." She looked resolved for a moment. "I just wanted to tell you, this is what makes everything else so hard to let go." She continued with an inflection of forced calm. "I thought I would get a fresh start when I made it to college but…" Her words died abruptly in her throat, and she started crying worse than she ever had before because she finally realized how jaded her life had been prior to finally getting Jamie.

He whispered calmly as he cocooned Eddie to his body. "Shhh, It's okay."

Eddie continued to cry in Jamie's arms. She whispered so quietly it was clear she felt haunted, it all came crashing over her like an avalanche as she talked through a steady stream of tears "It all hurts; being emotionally conned out of my virginity, the hazing at college, my father's fraud, my mother's misguided parenting…Fuller, that tactical training guy, Singer, Price, Josh, Barry." Eddie wailed through a fresh wave of anger. "Dammit! Why was there always a creep, a pig, or an idiot guy!"

Jamie sighed, "I know, even I throw myself in that last category for waiting so long."

She whimpered in a faint chuckle at his levity and reached clumsily for his left hand with hers sounding quiet and scarred. "I need you, Jamie..."

Jamie cocooned Eddie again. He was gently quiet in her ear. I'm not going anywhere, ever." Eddie took him at his word and continued crying in his arms.

 **V**

It took a full hour before Eddie finally cried herself dry. Jamie smiled warmly when she finally withdrew her head from his chest. "I love you, Eddie, I really hope you know that."

Eddie nodded with a passive expression. "That I do know, it's the only reason I reason I took a mulligan and decided to end my hiatus." She nodded blushing slightly. "I was over 15 years abstinent, before you and the night we got engaged." She had a brief flashback of being held at gunpoint yesterday. Her voice held a real fear as she continued. "I grew to hate guys even touching me." She held Jamie's eyes apologetically now. "When we were first partnered and would go out after shift, it took everything I had not to throw your arm off me." Eddie bowed her head on his shoulder feeling guilty. "I thought, it could be happening a third time, someone that just wanted to get in bed again."

Jamie shook his head in a dismissively. "Now a lot of stuff makes sense…Singer, Price…even your dad is a reminder of how you were conned in high school." He kissed her forehead and held her hand. "When were you comfortable with me?"

She smiled with complacency. "I relaxed pretty soon, any doubt evaporated when you stopped me from blowing my career on Singer, and rescued me from Price, and comforted me after the mess with Andy… and god the list just keeps going." Eddie continued as if trying to will something to be true. "I wish I'd known you since high school." She pulled him off the bed and to a stand. Her voice was full of longing and anticipation as she met Jamie's forehead and pressed herself into his body. "I waited for you because I'd already been waiting a lot longer than five years."

Jamie held Eddie tightly, "You don't have to wait anymore. I wish I could help you somehow, help you forget everything you have been through."

She shrugged grabbing his more slacked hand. "It's easier to take the punches from the universe and keep getting off the matt than it is to ask why I get punched at all, but enough of my sob story, we were just supposed to be resting between rounds and I turned into an emotional mess." Eddie pulled him along with her and braced herself against the same wall as the dresser allowing Jamie to anchor himself gently to her body from behind. She smiled. "I'm ready for something new."

He breathed into her ear quietly. "You're full of surprises, I feel obligated to tell you I've never done this before."

Eddie breathed quietly looking back, past Jamie to the mirror on the closet door. She was playfully blunt as she admired the two of them captured in the mirror. "Well, it's nice to know I'm your first in some respects." She smiled bluntly. "I obviously haven't done this before either. I was already counting you as my first Reagan, but here that's really true, be gentle with me."

Jamie kissed her back, gliding up to her neck. He whispered in her ear. "I did say I'd help you forget."

Jamie settled slowly inside her backside. Soon Eddie's breathing lengthened in both duration and volume, no moaning or overzealous exclamations like some hormonal teenager. She was putting too much effort into relaxing into things to vocalize anything, but something told both of them that the long, slow breathing at a notably increased decibel meant a climax was coming.

Jamie spoke quietly as he built up his thrusts, gently guiding her hands against the wall. "I love you Eddie Janko and I didn't think it was possible to love you more than I already do: your stubborn, opinioned, sarcastic, you're my equal personally, and professionally…"

She managed to talk now that she'd relaxed into things. "You outrank me." She huffed momentarily, adapting to a slow building but wide spreading sensation. "Not that I care about that right now…"

Jamie's expression and tone had irritation, he pressed and released his lips several times on her lower back as he continued to steadily thrust within her. "The precinct captains have their heads up their asses you're just as qualified as me to lead a squad."

Eddie's elevated breathing turned into a staggered chuckle. "Jamie, I love you for believing that, but right now the only head up anyone's ass is your other head, up mine." She exhaled with a little more heat relaxing to the stimulation caused by Jamie's steadily escalating movement.

Jamie chuckled, "You never hold back on being corny Janko, yet another reason I love you."

Eddie sounded quizzical. "Keep going."

He responded promptly. "You're the boss here."

She quickly heard her breathing escalate to fully heated, making her response staggered. "Not what I meant…but this works too."

Jamie nodded with a calm inflection. "You let me in when you wouldn't let anyone else in."

Eddie let out a breathy chuckle. "I think you mean where and not when but keep going."

Jamie lingered on her neck with his lips again. He sounded captivated now. "Even after everything you've been through, including my ridiculous emotional holdout, your still completely comfortable with who you are. You steal any room without even trying, and you stole my heart." He was moving much faster now. "I swear I will be whatever you need me to be to make you happy."

Eddie was having an out of body experience now. She sounded happily lazy "God, Jamie, I want you…the wedding the marriage the baby carriage…screw the what ifs I want to try to get pregnant now."

Jamie whispered gently. "That requires you turning around."

She urged him to keep going. "Not yet, one thing at a time, I'm almost there."

Sure enough, Eddie climaxed a short time later. She staggered from a multitude of orgasms that compromised her footing. She'd been breathing so loudly that ringing was in her ears afterward.

Jamie stabilized her from behind. His inflection was gentle. "Did I overdo it?" He carefully withdrew from her and she exhaled calmly, hitching slightly.

Eddie reassured Jamie as she turned back around leaning against him while her head fell on his shoulder. "No, the payoff was just a lot more than I was expecting." She chuckled at the uncertainty on Jamie's face. "It's a compliment believe me." She grinned playfully. "I think I need to promote you from Boy Scout. "Maybe I'll start calling you Sargent all the time, it'll be our inside secret, I'll give you my _Jamie exclusive_ look when I say it."

Jamie kissed Eddie with emphasis, whispering quietly afterward. "You can call me whatever you want." He scooped up his fiancée and she wrapped her legs around his waist, as they moved to the dresser, linked below the belt again.

Eddie was breathy as he started to thrust at a faster pace than when they were linked from behind. "You rebounded quickly."

Jamie's inflection matched the pace. "You wanted to try and get pregnant, I'm just following your orders."

Eddie vice gripped his back as they started to rock a little in place. She pulled her head back, meeting Jamie's eyes. Her response was a breathy apology. "I'm sorry, I know it's not the smart thing to do…" She sounded spurred on now. "I waited well over ten years for you Jameson Regan, I've never had a stable family before and I want to build one with you, so get your swimmers in me, now."

He was still thinking practically. "I don't know if that's a good idea, I'll worry about you and the pregnancy too much with the job."

Eddie sounded too far in the heat to think about doing anything other than following through. "Jamie, I don't care, I need to have your kids, and this is already the third attempt at making that happen, I will probably go for one more before I run out of energy."

Jamie responded anxiously. "If I had not played chicken with you for years, we'd be ahead of schedule already." He ran his hands down her back and squeezed her ass cheeks while he kissed her neck, his inflection was regretful. "When I think about all the time, I've wasted not being with you."

Eddie threw her head back in erotic satisfaction as the dresser started to thud the wall. "You have no idea…the number of nights I spent using my imagination of you as a placeholder to get myself hot."

Eddie was spurred with energy as she recalled numerous times that she had to settle for the fantasy of Jamie doing this to her. Finally getting the reality was much better than her fantasies of getting screwed by him had ever been. Eddie's breathing escaped like roaring wind, eventually, she found her voice again, finally giving in to a more primal vocal reaction as she moaned her way off the dresser and back into his arms. He moved back to the bed with her, spreading himself across her body while she kept her legs anchored around his waist.

Jamie ran his tongue slowly across Eddie's stomach, (stopping short of the now-closed bullet wound on the far-left end) then into her mouth. It was a while before they stopped kissing.

Jamie sounded like he had newfound energy. "You're right, we should never have played chicken for so long."

Eddie's was lost in having sex with him. Her voice was propelled by the pleasure of it. "I could have and should have just taken the lead, this is too damn amazing to have wasted years without it, and I'm not even talking about the fact that you could have been screwing me so much sooner Reagan."

Jamie grinned as the pace quickened further. He was so turned on by her that he egged her on in response. "were you that desperate to have me, Janko?"

Eddie was feeling extremely heated now. She dug in her hands on the bed convulsing a little. "I thought we already established that I got along by picturing you fucking me Reagan? Was I not clear enough or is that your ego taking?"

He responded playfully blunt. "If you must know, hearing it is a turn on, especially when you get mouthy about."

Eddie smiled obliging him. Her inflection was longing and flushed with heat. "Just can it, and keep going, Boy Scout."

Jamie did not overlook the way she playfully mocked him. He looked even more motivated. "If you insist."

She had blissful aggression in her voice as she fixed him with a longing stare. "I need you, and I want you, to keep going until you fire, and if we conceive then we will deal with it." The sound created from their energy surging through the bed was rapid thuds that were drowned out by Eddie's now involuntary shouty breaths.

Jamie was rather impressed with her ability to keep her reaction all in her breathing and not start moaning through the climax, which came as Eddie's head arched backward for several seconds. They both took tremendous pride in breaking various sex and romance stereotypes. It was also impressive that her wound did not reopen given her orgasm shot energy through her entire body making it convulse in a slow burn kind of effect. It left Eddie feeling blissfully pleased, and more grateful than ever that her fantasies were now replaced by a much more palpable reality. Something she would be able to vividly recall whenever she wanted.

Afterward, both of them steadily came to rest laying next to each other on the bed inches apart. Eddie looked at Jamie with a gauging expression. Her inflection was quizzical. "Can I ask you something?"

Jamie nodded kissing her chest. "What's on your mind?"

Eddie was sadly blunt. "Do you think my loner-tomboy personality is the reason that so much has happened to me?"

Jamie stroked her hair, sounding melancholy. "Eddie, why are you even thinking that you ever made yourself to be conned, assaulted, or humiliated so often?"

She sighed shrugging with a rhetorical inflection. "Haven't I?"

Jamie shook his head vigorously. "No! The jackasses who've assaulted, conned and exploited you didn't do it because you're a tomboy or a loner; they did it because they are scum that pathetically got a high treating you like something that they could use and throw away. I want to kill them all just thinking about what they put you through."

Eddie sounded emotional again, "Jamie..." Her inflection was a struggle for comprehension of the last of his words. "I still can't believe you love me that much. I know I said it once already, but it scares me, and it will probably always scare me on some level. No one has ever cared about me with that much empathy, I'm a mess." She touched his heart beating loudly but slowly, this left Eddie trying to understand the gravity of Jamie's unwavering love for her, especially when she was so flawed emotionally and physically.

Jamie held her hand sounding consolingly. "Eddie…" She may have been done living in fear, but self-doubt was in its stead. He merged into and kissed her body in a continual descent, pausing past her navel; I love you because your perfect."

She was quietly dismissive. "I'm not perfect.

Jamie whispered gently into her lips with a smile. "Alright maybe not, but you're perfect for me Eddie Janko." He kissed her deeply and tenderly, making sure she felt it through her whole body.

Jamie didn't stop there, he gently began nibbling her ear and sucking her neck and clavicle, and after a little while moved down her body, eventually arriving below the belt. Jamie teased her here with his lips and tongue.

Eddie softly whined his name in response. "Jamie…" she finished with a passive plead. "I need to hear why, why me and not some other girl?" She lifted her head to meet his eyes, wearing a self-critical expression.

Jamie paused, his inflection was tender. "Is this a trick question because I thought I answered it a few minutes ago?"

Eddie's sighed, tilting her head to look at him. "I know it is stupid, but I can't help it I need a reason."

Jamie began to piece together Eddie's other hang-up, he was undeterred. "Eddie, I wish I could give you some deep answer."

She wore a passive smile. "Please try, just for my own peace of mind."

Jamie merged into her again so that their foreheads touched, he gave her a quiet, tender answer. "Having you in my life, before we were even together, became the best thing that has ever happened to me." He stroked her hair gently. "Some part of you thinks we were forced together because of being patrol partners first, right?"

Eddie nodded in a hesitant whisper. "Yes, especially when everything in my life before and since we've met has been a complicated mess. It feels way to easy that we fell in love, I keep waiting for the universe to strike back."

Jamie interlocked Eddie's hand, touching her engagement ring with his thumb. He responded gently. "Well, you can stop waiting because I am going to spend the rest of my life with you." He was gently insistent as he met her forehead. "Besides, don't you think that's the point, that it finally balanced things out for you." He smiled kissing the cleavage of her chest which slowly rose and fell with each breath she took and spoke with overwhelming appreciation. "Even when we are not together, I feel you with me, every second of every day." He thought for a moment and then continued, his inflection was something of a certainty. "Most cultures believe marriage makes two souls one, with us that happened years ago." He sounded emphatic now. "When you were kidnapped by Price, and since that moment you are a part of me; mind, brain, the soul, whatever it is…the label doesn't really matter."

Eddie squeezed his hand tightly nodding with a smile. "I feel the same way. After my first kill, everything with you became metaphysical."

He shrugged, "Actually, to be honest, I don't know much about that, isn't it just asking why things happen?"

She nodded with a small smile. "Sort of, it was part of a philosophy class I took in college, it's the idea that our ability to think is the meaning of human life, that thoughts are tangible and everything we do or feel is because of our mind creating it, that's the simple definition anyway and it explains why we are always in perfect sync." She finished with an expression and an air of emotional gravity. "The point is that, since that night, you are always in my mind." Eddie locked her arms tightly around Jamie's back sounding painfully honest. "Every girl that was ever with you made crazy."

Jamie gave reassurance. "If it helps, the amount is less than one hand worth and even at that, Sydney is the only one that really counts, Terra, isn't on that list by the way."

Eddie tilted her head looking moderately annoyed. "Ugh, I'm sorry I was jealous of Terra okay." She was blunt now. "The truth is my jealousy came from wanting you so badly." She continued irritated. "you took so long to reciprocate after we admitted our feelings…I wasn't angry, but I was annoyed…because I wanted you as more than just a work partner or a best friend. I had you just about every way possible, the only thing missing was this, and I wanted it the most, not just because of breaking my hiatus but because you are mine, I claimed you the first time I said I needed you, because for so long I didn't let myself need anyone." Eddie looked like a massive weight was off her shoulders with such a primal confession, she stuck her tongue aggressively in his mouth for several minutes.

Jamie was so in love with the whole package that was this amazing woman, his words showed that he held Eddie in tremendous admiration. "With your innate ability as a cop, your girl next door look, your endless appetite, and the way your sex drive is you really are a feminine tomboy, and its crazy that any guy would find that a turn off because I think you are incredible."

Eddie smiled going after Jamie's neck on both sides with an air of spilling her long-held desires. "So much of what we've done this entire go-around I used to have to imagine in my head just to get off." Eddie sounded overwhelmingly in love as she continued. "Coming to work every day and having to keep a lid on, watching other women with you, it was hell, Jamie."

Jamie chuckled at the irony of Eddie's more primal confession and the way she had been struggling to accept that she deserved him a bit earlier. His response was an attempt to offer clarity. "You do realize how ironic that is right? You wanted me so badly and now that you have me you think life is going to drop the other shoe again."

Eddie was still attacking him as she responded with a quiet emotional heat. "God, I can't believe I didn't see it." She sighed. I guess I really don't like getting to in touch with my feelings, most women would have realized this already…it's a guy thing to shove your feelings down until they burst."

He smiled stroking her hair with a gentle but ego stroked answer. "I wouldn't say that it's gender specific but it's nothing to feel bad about not noticing. Besides, I went to Harvard, so I notice things."

Eddie's face split into a rare full grin. "There's your ego, Ivy League with stripes. It turns me on just as much as it drives me crazy, just like when you tell me what to do, on and off the job." Her eyes had that Jamie exclusive look.

Jamie smiled at her with pride. "you amaze me, Eddie. I can't fathom how you have had such bad luck."

Eddie shrugged, "I've wondered that since I was 16, why life seemed to enjoy screwing with me for so long…I never figured it out."

Jamie stroked her hair gently. "I promise I will do everything I can to make sure you never get screwed again." He wore a suggestive smile fueled with heat. "Unless you want me to do it of course."

Eddie pushed him back as if granting permission with a charged look. "Considering I want to have your kids, you'll be screwing me a lot, Reagan." She laid back with a heated inflection. "But in the meantime, get back down there and finish what you started." He nodded. He scaled down her stomach with his lips again and did exactly as she asked.

Jamie's oral work below the belt was incredible. He took his time exploring everything here, her clit had never been the source of so much sexual pleasure before, even in all the nights Eddie spent working by herself. His tongue and the heat from it caused her to rise quickly. Unlike earlier, her response begged for escalation.

He decided to try two things at once, using one hand on her clit in a hasty massage while working the fingers of his other hand quickly along the inside of her pussy. The result stimulated every nerve and muscle Eddie had below the belt, Jamie smiled as he watched Eddie's head rear backward and her chest started to rapidly rise and fall losing herself in what her fiancé was doing right now.

For once Eddie shouted in ecstasy. "God, Jamie!"

Jamie's inflection was pleasantly surprised. "I'm not God, but thanks anyway!"

Eddie lifted her head meeting his eyes and his smirking grin with a charged look. "Focus, boy scout…I was just getting hot, and your ego shows up again!"

Jamie took that as a personal challenge. He shot across her body like a bullet and kissed her heatedly while Eddie draped her legs around his waist again, and they started to move together at a blinding pace. Even though it was impractical, the rate at which they were working together suggested that Jamie and Eddie were trying to conceive a child right now.

As they continued to thrust together, Eddie whispered anxiously, almost laughing at their stupidity. "Jamie, this is such a bad idea, we're right in the middle of being undercover mobsters if we have to deal with a pregnancy…"

He whispered back calmly. "Eddie, let's just enjoy the attempt, you were the one that said not to worry about ifs or buts and that we would deal with it." She gripped him tightly and moments later he blasted off inside her like a cannon. Eddie was too happy at the thought of carrying his child to care that it was not smart to attempt right now.

Sometime after, Eddie found herself wrapped in Jamie's arms as they draped lazily across her chest.

She sounded content and airy. "So, you finally mixed things up?" She reached back and held his left cheek.

He shook his head smiling. "Yeah I surprised myself, there's a lot I'd never done until tonight."

Eddie smiled with admiration in her voice as she spoke back softly. "Well clearly you know how to satisfy a girl and mix things up, it'll all sustain me for quite a while. She sounded a bit subdued as she continued. "Makes me a little bummed that you held back the first two times we slept together."

He chuckled, "Have I mentioned how much I love that you break the female mold? Besides, I'm not an animal. I wanted to make sure you knew that it wasn't just physical before I started trying stuff I've never done and given your hiatus I'm glad I took it slow."

Eddie smiled gratefully. "I did need time to come out of hibernation so thanks for starting slow the first two times." She sighed softly sounding a little bit irritated about female stereotypes. "It was so annoying dealing with guys that expected me to be a damsel in distress… I hate looking weak."

Jamie was emphatic "You're not weak if you choose to act like a girl Eddie."

She wore a sarcastic look. "Jamie my whole life _acting like a girl_ has got me pushed around. So, I guess I just prefer to look feminine but hate acting feminine, so many people expect me to be one way or the other, I just want to be myself and not have to apologize to people for it."

Jamie nodded, noting her irritated expression. "People like Josh?"

Eddie nodded sounding bitter. "Exactly, dumped by a guy that could not handle that I'm a cop. I bet if I was a stripper he wouldn't have complained." She continued venting through a sigh. "Even Barry was threatened because I had a male partner." Eddie sighed again tempering herself. "You know I'm glad I closed up shop for so long, I wasn't missing anything." She smiled lifting his left hand in hers and staring at the engagement ring on her finger. Eddie sounded wishful. "Until you started dragging your feet that is, I know its beating a dead horse, but my mind always drifts to how much farther ahead we could be."

Jamie sighed downcast. "I know, I always wish I had not played chicken, your door has been open since the first time we kissed, and I just kept being an idiot."

Eddie shrugged shaking her head. "I'm not really mad, I just wish we would have started sooner and that goes for all of it, not just the sex." She continued with a subdued inflection. "But I'm the one who is sorry.

Jamie looked surprised and confused. "What for?"

She sounded irritated as she inhaled sharply and spoke with quiet embarrassment. "For falling apart in your arms, twice in less than 24 hours."

He squeezed her tightly kissing her head. Jamie was emphatically dismissive of her apology. "Just because you have more of a male mentality doesn't mean you can't fall apart if you need to Eddie." He sighed almost painfully. "Especially after everything you have been through."

She was downcast and dull still. "But it was right in the middle of sex."

He chuckled. "Technically it was in between rounds."

Eddie laughed shifted to meet his face. She smiled sounding emotional again. "Jamie…"

He ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah?"

She met his forehead with an emphatic response. "Thank you…"

Jamie smiled brushing her lips with his. "For what?"

She exhaled into his lips slowly, "Everything, I could never have believed when I took that façade of a senior picture in high school with the fake smile that you would be in my future." He smiled kissing her deeply. Afterward, she was quiet. "What time is it?"

He thought for a moment before finally peering at the clock, something they had not done all evening. "Almost seven, why?"

She smiled with a different kind of stare touching his chest. "We haven't eaten since lunch, we can still make all you can eat Tuesdays at Anton's."

Jamie chuckled. "Note to self, when you bring up food, sex is officially over."

Eddie shrugged rolling her eyes as she hit Jamie in the chest. "Shut up Reagan, you won't be making jokes about how much I eat if it turns out that I'm pregnant."

Jamie hadn't considered how much her appetite could increase if she was eating for two or more." He was quizzical. "How long before we know?"

Her response was amused. "Look who's suddenly serious." She smiled at his flummoxed look. "It takes about 10 days after conception for implantation of the zygote to occur, that's when it becomes an embryo, I can take a test anytime from that point. If I am, fetal brain activity will be detectable within six to eight weeks, and I'll officially be carrying our kid." Eddie got up and stood with her head on her shoulder. "I'm taking a shower while you wrap your head around all that, I guess I wouldn't mind if you were there too." She left casually.

Jamie nodded, and then his brain registered the last of her words and went after her. "I'm coming!"

Soon done with their joint shower, the two of them got dressed. Eddie was wearing one of his Harvard shirts and sweats over a brown jacket instead of her default jean jacket. She had an appreciative look as she watched Jamie. "You really don't care that I eat a lot of food, do you?"

he put his arms around her smiling. "No, but Anton's might, all you can eat offers never anticipate a customer taking them literally."

Eddie shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Whatever Reagan, I'm too hungry to care."

Jamie looked at her with a laughing smile. "God, I love you."

She smiled back admiring his more dressed up street clothes. "I love you too. She slid her ring back on her finger, handed him his jacket and grabbed his keys when they made it near the apartment door. She sounded anxious with anticipation. "Let's go, I'm not used to not being able to stop somewhere to eat multiple times a day."

He smiled. "You're not messing around if you dressed down like this. We should get there before you collapse from hunger."

She clenched his keys in her hand with a hasty response. "I'm driving."

Jamie quipped as he closed the door behind them. "Thanks for warning me, try not to peel out into the street, okay."

Eddie dropped her head on his shoulder with a shrug. "Whatever you say, Sarge." She had the Jamie exclusive look in her eyes. He smiled at Eddie through a grin, squeezing her against him as they left.

VI

At dinner Eddie took full advantage of all you can eat; a Cheeseburger, Steak, Salad, Ribs, Mozzarella Sticks, chocolate cake etc. She was clearly refueling after an early evening of such highs and lows. Jamie just shared some of everything she ordered, not being picky about food after all the family dinners.

Jamie was amazed by her seemingly endless appetite. He smiled, "Three entrees, two appetizers, and a dessert like nothing, had enough?"

Eddie replied with enthusiasm. "The wings here are really good too!" She hailed a waiter yet again.

Jamie watched as she steadily put away the majority of a dozen different flavored wings herself, leaving one of each for him. Afterward, Eddie made a point to steadily drink a second large glass of water once she was finally full.

Jamie looked at her with a serious grin. "Have you ever considered competitive eating? I still try to figure out where you put it all, I haven't yet."

Eddie chuckled shaking her head no, sounding blunt. "I eat a lot of food, but I draw the line at scarfing it down like a pig for profit or recognition."

Jamie tilted his head. "Makes sense."

A voice met their ears a few minutes later. "Yeah, so does this!" Maya was striding over to their table. She looked torn between annoyance and satisfaction.

Eddie was blunt. "Before you say anything…"

Maya looked stony. "I don't think there is anything to say, you lied right to my face."

Eddie corrected her tensely. "No, I didn't, you only think I did because the wheels in your head were turning the same way everyone over at the 12th did. If you had bothered to ask the right question, I would have been straight with you."

Maya was quizzically blunt. "You really expect me to believe you're not screwing the Sarge here?"

Eddie looked angry now, "I swear to God if one more person assumes that, I might shoot them!" Jamie put his arm around her for a calming effect. She tempered herself. "As I said, you make a lousy detective."

Jamie was blunt. "You know I don't show favorites and I'm not unprofessional."

Maya looked skeptical. "So, you're not going to give me a rip?"

Jamie crossed his arms sounding businesslike. "Even if I was, there's nothing to write up that would match anything on the books." His tone quickly shifted to an irritated significant other. "If you keep assuming my Eddie is a slut who is just trying to get ahead by sleeping with me…" Maya shrank noticeably. "…We'll have a problem, one that has nothing to do with the job."

Maya was both defensive and intimidated now. "I didn't mean to—"

Jamie talked past her. "Clearly you did, or you would not have made the same assumption everyone else does." His tone was businesslike again. "It isn't high school anymore, this is the life and death of the NYPD, and nobody knows that better than us."

Maya joined their table sounding at best intrigued. "So, this more than casual?"

Eddie tilted her head amused. "At least you catch on quick." She revealed her engaged hand.

Maya's voice rose momentarily as she eyed the ring. "You're marrying Sarge Janko? Now your defensive attitude makes sense."

Eddie shrugged annoyed. "It's Jamie…look when you've been through the kind of things on and off the job that we have, other cops assuming that our relationship is a sexual fling is an insult." She held Jamie's hand now. "I defend him because I've spent over 10,400 hours on the job with him. I know the kind of cop, and person, he is; he cares about doing his job and doing it professionally."

Maya was even more intimidated now. "Oh…"

Jamie surveyed her with a gauged expression. "You're not sold on either of us, are you?"

Maya was hesitantly blunt. "I was miffed that you both just left, care to explain that?"

As if on cue Jamie's burner phone rang. He glanced at Eddie who nodded and then stepped away. Eddie sighed whispering. "We got an undercover assignment, I can't give you details but at least indefinitely we don't work for the NYPD anymore."

Maya shrugged. "Who are you two? Lois and Clark?"

Eddie smiled. "In this case, more like, Bonnie and Clyde."

Maya glanced at her curiously. "How did you ever fall in love with him when you were stuck as his partner 40 hours a week. He irritates me."

Eddie was honest. "Because I liked being stuck as his partner 40 hours a week." She glanced back at Jamie isolated in a corner several feet away still on the phone. She smiled turning her head back to Maya. "That, and a lot of stuff has happened to, and between us, on and off the job over the years, but we've always had each other's backs and just fell in love. So, when Jamie finally asked me to have his forever, I said yes…we even wrote our vows around that."

Maya shifted uncomfortably. "Now I feel bad about jamming his locker."

Eddie raised her eyebrows. "That was you?"

Maya sighed. "Yeah, I did not exactly believe you about him."

Eddie crossed her arms with an irritated stare. "You thought I was just sleeping with Jamie for the notoriety, we're used to it, but if you must know how much we love each other…" She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Maya.

She read slowly and with captivation. Her response was measured. "So, you really love each other then?"

Eddie nodded taking back the paper. "Yes, and it took years to admit it, but we've saved each other's lives multiple times and going through all that was a wakeup call."

Maya was indifferent. "I've saved my other partners lives, but we never fell in love. I just don't get it."

Eddie shrugged. "Clearly…I can't explain it, except maybe like this, she sounded profound now paraphrasing. "'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds…it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken…whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken…love alters not with his brief hours and weeks…but bears it out even to the edge of doom.'"

Maya shrugged back. "Yeah, that just gives me more of a headache Janko."

Eddie smiled. "Pieces of a poem by Shakespeare, honestly most days I don't understand how much I love him or how much he loves me, but we do, and it can't be judged or measured. We will always have each other's backs, I will love him until my last breath and he the same with me. There is no one else."

Maya shrugged again. "A lot simpler to say with that Bryan Adam's song if you ask me…"

Eddie was struck at her response. "Everything I do… She grinned. "I think you just helped me pick our wedding song."

Maya looked awkward. "Um, why are you so excited?"

Eddie blushed emotionally. "Because its perfect!"

Maya smiled. "Glad I could help, I guess."

Eddie sounded measured now. "So, can you stay quiet about us?"

Maya offered a friendly barter. "Don't rat me out about jamming his locker and you've got a deal." Eddie nodded smiling as Jamie was coming back over, his expression was downcast and worrisome.

Maya raised her eyebrows politely excusing herself. "See you two around."

Once she was gone, he sounded flat and tense. "We need to go, now."

Eddie stood up, "What's going on?"

Jamie was blunt. "They have something for us to do."

Eddie pressed. "What?"

Jamie responded with a sense of foreboding. "'Take care of our crap lawyer and get rid of the body.' We need to touch base with Veronica because one way or another I won't see Sydney again, and I hope to god it is sending her into witness protection."

* * *

A/N: Some may wonder why I piled on to Eddie's background like I did, the truth is I wanted to provide more context to her sensitivity to the things she has dealt with concerning several other men throughout the show in terms of exploitation and assaults, and just plain bad luck. The benefit of not being limited by time or content. I heard Everything I do recently, and it really does feel like the perfect wedding song for Jamko! Maybe I should tweet the showrunners about that, who knows if they'll even do a reception though…I digress.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Not actually a new chapter, 17,000 words is a lot for a single chapter so I split decided to split my most recent update into two separate chapters so it was more readable!

* * *

Jamie and Eddie immediately drove back to the Hamptons, coordinating with Agent Molina on the way, and changing into thug appropriate clothes. Then going to the address from his earlier phone conversation. It was not a place they knew about. It looked like a sizable warehouse based on the exterior of the building.

Erik was waiting for them. His wear and tear from the night before were mostly gone. He greeted them casually. "Jimmy, Ellie, Dad is impressed on the surface, but he wants to make sure you are willing to get your hands dirty." Eddie took satisfaction that he was still walking awkwardly.

Jamie was wearing darker clothing over his leather jacket. His hair was messy. He looked like someone willing to get their hands dirty. He responded coolly. "Knowing his son got beat up by a guy half a foot shorter than he is wasn't enough then?"

Erik seemed to have gained some skin in the last 24 hours. He sidestepped the insult wearing a grin, "You checked out, but like I said we don't hire by an application."

Jamie crossed his arms casually. "Who are we taking care of for him?"

Erik shrugged with some level of disappointment. "Bad hire on the legal side. Shame really, she's single and looks damn good." He glanced quickly at Eddie with a hormonal expression. "Not as good as you Ellie, but I'm sure you get that all the time when you look like that."

Eddie was wearing the same black dress shirt—over a similar leather jacket like Jamie—that she wore when giving the _not a date_ guy a second chance, only for it to turn out to be a booty call that she turned down—seriously what was with her seemingly cursed luck with other guys? Something that only reoccurred to her because of the hormone-driven stare she was getting right now…

Eddie responded dryly annoyed by Erik, "Down boy, I'd guess you are just barely old enough to drink…" She shrugged at the absurdity. "Have you not learned yet that you have never and would never have a shot with me? She shook her head at Jamie. "Believe this lamb-chop? He shot me and acts like it didn't happen the next day, I hope the rest of his family is smarter than that."

Jamie was blunt. "I would bet on that El, his dad did say he had no shot, but clearly he hasn't learned."

She scoffed shaking her head, annoyed with Erik's hormones. "Dog with a boner… kid, pant after someone else, I'm over 30. Trust, me when I say there are plenty of bitches your age that would be flattered that you salivate like a puppy at them, me on the other hand, it just pisses me off!" Her tone shifted to business like. "Now, does this lawyer know she's dead or do you just off people keeping them in the dark until the last moment?"

Erik seemed to know better than to keep trying after 24 hours ago. He answered bluntly. "We never tell anyone we're going to kill them, dad always said people that know they're dead try to outrun it. Follow me."

Eddie was blunt. "About damn time."

II

Erik led them inside, and through several doors to an elevator. The rooms they passed were all manufacturing and distribution areas for a lot of high-end art. Jamie and Eddie both assumed the ground level was for show, and the basement level was where the underbelly of activities happened. Jamie quietly recalled a conversation with Danny seven years ago, just after starting his undercover assignment.

 _Jamie was uncertain and nervous as he sought Danny's advice. "I know I could end up having to shoot a perp on the street. This is different, this guy Noble sees me as his sidekick. What if I end up having to shoot or kill some random guy that double crosses him?"_

 _Danny sighed sounding calm but realistic. "Kid I'm not going to lie, you're in a deep cover which means you could have to do some morally hard stuff including shooting and or killing people."_

 _Jamie was anxious. "I became a cop to protect and serve, not commit murder."_

 _Danny was gently blunt. "If you can't keep the cover, you'll end up dead and I can't lose another brother… do you have your gun on you?"_

 _Jamie pulled out his personal gun looking uncertain. "Yeah but its empty right now, why?"_

 _Danny loaded blanks into the gun and cocked it. He pointed it at Jamie, parallel to his heart, but a few inches lower at the slimmest part of his abdomen. He sounded instructive. "That spot, you can shoot someone and make it look fatal when it isn't you have to be precise though, because two inches higher (he raised the gun for effect) means dead. Hopefully, its convincing enough and you can talk your way to being alone and get whoever is the victim out of harm's way." He handed the gun back to Jamie. "Time to practice on me, but for the record, you tell nobody about this."_

 _Jamie nodded gratefully "Yeah, thanks, Danny."_

 _Danny nodded. "Sure thing, but after we get back to shooting wildlife." Jamie nodded again._

Erik's voice brought Jamie back to the present. "Tired Jimmy?"

He leaned casually against the wall as the elevator neared the bottom. "Long 24 hours, since you, you know, shot my wife."

Erik was praising. "About that, nice to know you didn't run to a hospital. We checked, here we are."

Erik led them through a long hallway and through another door. This place seemed to be part office and part storage because there were several closed storage units in a row. As they looked around Jamie and Eddie realized there was an exit door at the far-left end which meant that past that door they would be outside again.

After only a handful of steps, they were held by unknown people. Jamie spoke irritably. "This shit again…well at least you aren't doing it by yourself this time."

Ricky Ortiz appeared from the far end flanked by his other son Ian who was around Jamie's height with long, unruly hair that covered his forehead. Ricky sounded somewhere between cautious and amused. "I don't consider it shit Mr. Riordan…more precautionary." He glanced irritatingly at Erik for a moment. "Though I do apologize for Erik's juvenile behavior, older than his brother and yet Ian acts much more rationally." He continued calmly blunt. "Perhaps, you can explain how you know the lawyer we will be getting rid of shortly?" He nodded at Ian who opened a computer with restroom security footage from yesterday's auction.

Jamie faked angry surprise. "This bitch is your lawyer?"

Ricky raised his eyebrows in amusement. "so, you do know her Jimmy?"

Jamie became irate. "Would you forget an ex-fiancé that said you were not worth sticking around for and then ran away across the damn pond?"

Ricky nodded to the extra help and Jamie was released. He drew his gun shouting roughly. "Let my wife go or it will be a bloodbath before I even find that stupid bitch Sydney!"

Ricky nodded again, and Eddie was released. He turned to Erik sounding rough around the edges. "See, you moronic child, that level of rage is not to be provoked." He addressed Jamie calmly. "So, you will have no problem disposing of Davenport?"

Jamie was blunt. "Just lead the way, and I'll do it."

Eddie cut in quickly. "No lambchop, I will kill her myself, she smashed your heart to pieces, so I'll enjoy putting a bullet in hers. Besides, yelling at her was not enough."

Jamie walked in close to her sounding gentle and endearing. "Are you sure shorty?"

Eddie smiled in convincing fashion. "Come on boy scout I can handle this." Jamie pulled her in for a lingering kiss placing his ringed hand over the exact spot where she had to shoot as he did, hoping she would feel the clue.

Ricky was pleased. "Ian give her Davenport's address. Jimmy and the rest of us will discuss, potential." He put his hands together with a blunt look. "Your scars run much deeper than my son's ill-advised bullet wound in your side or your hatred of this woman." He sighed. "I hope you can manage because things are regularly messy in our work. Speaking of messy, I wish to speak with Davenport before she is killed, bring her here, ignorant of her fate of course. After that dispose of her past the exit in this room any way you wish." He finished bluntly. "You have until midnight, and your return or absence will tell me everything I need to know. Loyalty to your husband is one thing Ellie, it appears you have an equally immense hammer and shield for him, but this is my loyalty test. I don't need to wire you or track your movements, I will just shoot your husband if you aren't back before midnight with Davenport."

Eddie nodded with a blunt response. "I'll drag that self-centered bitch in here if I have to…" She held Jamie's hand, sounding sweet to him and yet intimidating to their hosts. "Hey, I should be back, but if I'm cutting it close you go Jason Bourne on their asses and get the hell away, okay lambchop?"

Jamie nodded, "I'll be damned if I die without a fight." Eddie kissed Jamie heatedly and then walked away.

Ricky nodded again sounding blunt with an amused expression. "now, to find a more suitable lawyer."

Jamie gave a friendly smile with his arms crossed. "I can help with all that, I graduated Harvard Law."

Ricky smiled. "Like I said, potential."

III

Eddie was in front of Sydney's apartment door just after ten o' clock, two hours left. She would have to explain things in the car on the way, there was no time to stand around.

Eddie knocked and responded hastily. "I don't have time to explain, get dressed and follow me."

Sydney stammered, "Eddie, what are you…how do you even…wait, why do you look like that?"

Eddie ignored her questions sounding anxiously blunt. "Please Sydney I don't have time to explain until we're driving, just get dressed, something above casual but not a dress, so we can get to the car." Sydney nodded.

Soon driving in the car, Eddie explained the situation. Sydney panicked instantly, which was understandable given she hated dangerous situations, to begin with.

She sounded beside herself. "You, have to kill me…"

Eddie calmly corrected her. "it has to look like I kill you…"

Sydney was exasperated. "How is that any better!"

Eddie was blunt. "One way you are dead, the other way your shot but alive."

Sydney looked annoyed. "I wasn't asking…can I wear a vest at least?"

Eddie was again blunt. "No, that could blow our cover…I'm sorry but I you have to take an actual bullet cleanly in the chest, so it's authentic."

Sydney hesitated. "So, I'm going to die?"

Eddie was again calm. "Temporally, yes."

Sydney shivered. "That isn't comforting…why isn't Jamie doing it?"

Eddie tensed. "So, they can kill him if I'm not back by midnight. She glanced at Sydney turning honestly blunt. "Besides, I'm detached. Sydney stared at her. Eddie took no notice still blunt. "I don't think Jamie would have the ability to shoot you and possibly end your life."

Sydney was quizzical "But you do?"

Eddie shrugged sounding unintentionally harsh. "You mean nothing to me." She glanced apologetically. "Sorry, I just mean that asking Jamie to carry around the guilt of shooting the woman that he once loved enough to give his mother's ring, is not something I want him to have to live with." She sighed, "I'm detached emotionally, he isn't as much as he tries to say he is, I know he's lying because we always hold on to some piece of our worst moments."

Sydney eyed her hand. "he didn't reuse it, his moms ring."

She smiled, "I wouldn't have cared either way, but he was apparently saving for a few years at least because this is 10 carrots. Eddie chuckled, "I think he took the promotion to Sargent because it was so expensive, granted I don't know how much he actually spent, but again I don't care about the ring. I care about him."

Sydney sighed. "Enough to protect Jamie from himself, now I realize that was what I didn't have. There was not much empathy or sympathy in my love for him after Joe died, you really are his soul mate Eddie."

Eddie chuckled again. "I don't put much stock in soul mates, the numbers make it a long shot, but I've been hit over the head enough to know that he is." Her tone was blunt again. "Listen, I'm going to have to flip a switch, and you need to play along. That means I will need to make it look like we fought, it would be weird if you weren't beat up considering we are trying to get in with a crime family that has a mob mentality. You have to be prepared to adjust at a moment's notice, and most importantly…" Her tone turned unmistakably serious. "…do not react when I pull the trigger, the spot where I need to shoot is only a few inches from your heart and other vital tissue, so you will die if it's not exact."

Sydney nodded anxiously. "What happens after, if I'm still alive I mean?"

Eddie shrugged, that I can't answer for sure, but ideally, I will be able to do this alone and go from there. There is a drug called amiodarone that will help revive you if you fall unconscious, but you have to swallow it just before I shoot you, so adjusting to the situation could be the only thing that gets you through this and into witness protection." She pulled out a pill from the glove compartment sounding blunt. "Courtesy of the DEA, I'm glad you have at least one pocket somewhere."

Sydney stashed the pill and raised her eyebrows. "Witness protection?"

Eddie nodded. "Our DEA contact is ready to move at a moment's notice, so we fake your death and go from there, but you'll be given a new residence in Paris."

Sydney had a sudden realization. "My parents…"

Eddie was blunt. "I'm sorry but at least in the short term there is nothing you can do about that, if we take these people down, your family can be made aware of what's happened to you."

Sydney sighed. "it is so much to process…"

Eddie finished just as blunt. "You've got the rest of the drive to wrap your mind around everything. Like it or not, you'll need to use the time you spent around a family of cops as best you can, your life depends on it."

IV

Sydney looked disheveled and beat up. She sounded frantic. "Let go of me, I just managed the transactions from the auction. What do you people want with me?"

Ian sighed. "As dad said, he doesn't tolerate cold feet and he can tell you fall into fear too easily."

Jamie spat convincingly harsh. "Yeah especially fear of commitment."

Ian continued. "Dad doesn't think given that history that you're worth the potential flight risk. Besides, turns out Jimmy here is a smarter lawyer than you."

Sydney was trying to struggle. "So, you're going to kill me?"

Erik chuckled, "No, Ellie here is going to do that, its only fair to let her finish what she started after all."

Eddie continued holding Sydney hostage. They had formed a plan where she would break away and run…Eddie would close proximity and steal the pill from her pocket, passing it back to her under the guise of a fist fight. The idea created thanks to a kickboxing commonality both women had. Eddie did feel bad both that she had to attack Sydney and that Jamie was unaware ahead of time, but she hoped he'd catch on quick.

Eddie squeezed tightly for effect. She sounded annoyed and angry. "I'm going to enjoy killing you, Davenport, for Jimmy, he won't admit it, but you crushed him and now I'm going to crush you!"

Sydney noticed Eddie stuck her foot out just enough…that was it. She grunted angrily. "Get off me, you crazy bitch!"

Just as Ian, the closest of the others, was occupied holding the door open, Sydney stomped hard on Eddie's foot and convincingly elbowed her in the face, breaking away in a sprint."

Ian and Erik made to help her. She shook them off angrily. "Get off, I'm killing that bitch myself!" She tore off after Sydney shouting back at them. "You two try to follow or get in my way, you'll be the next people I kill!"

Ian looked at Jamie with a blunt expression. "She's a loose cannon, can you two really take care of this Jimmy?"

Jamie was nonchalant. "Gets irritated when we take jobs and she's not shown the same level of respect." He smiled, "I love it when she's angry. "Jamie leaned against the wall casually. "We will contact you when it's done."

V

The exit door led to a passage which eventually opened up into a wooded area. She had a good idea where Sydney would eventually find herself, the air was crisp outside here…cemetery, highway nearby.

Eddie shouted aggressively. "I'll find you!"

Sydney responded angrily. "What did I ever do to you!"

Eddie began following the direction of Sydney's voice. She laughed. "You mean nothing to me." She shouted again. "But Jimmy, he means everything…for some reason he is still hung up on not being good enough for you, so I figure the best way to show him you don't matter, is kill you!" Eddie supposed there were security cameras around if Sydney was still playing along, but she wasn't taking any chances and would keep up appearances until she sent evidence of the kill.

She shouted tauntingly. "If you want to kill me, you crazy whore, you have to catch me first!"

Eddie laughed again. "You'd better keep running then!"

 **...**

Eddie had several bruises on her face and her lip was bleeding. Her chest hurt quite a bit having been kicked hard in the midsection by a sharp heel and likely bruised deeper than her face, thankfully Eddie warned Sydney on the drive back not to disturb her bullet wound. Sydney was in worse shape because it had to be that way. With the pill in Sydney's back pocket, she had to have sustained noticeable injuries to distract from taking the pill in her hand and then passing it into Sydney's mouth without notice. She was nursing a dislocated right shoulder and a broken nose, along with a bruised rib.

Eddie forced her against the wall of the crypt they were now standing in, sounding angry but impressed. "Nice try but I'm going to kill you now. At least you bought yourself a few extra minutes, not bad for a whore and a heartbreaker!"

Sydney scoffed tiresomely. "You're dressed like that and I'm the whore?"

Eddie chuckled. "You know, the least I can do, is reset this for you." She aggressively reset Sydney's shoulder taking the opportunity to snag the pill with sleight of hand.

The scream was painfully real. Eddie covered Sydney's mouth with the same hand that held the amiodarone using the other to force it unseen into her mouth. "Shut up!"

During the whole fight, they were strategic so as not to dislodge Eddie's gun. She scoffed after Eddie removed her hand. "You just reset my shoulder, excuse me for screaming!"

Eddie stared her down, drawing her gun. "One last bit of pain before you die."

Sydney recognized defeat sounding pleading, it was born of real fear. "Why are you doing this?"

Eddie was flat emotionless as she pointed the gun right where Jamie had showed her hours earlier. "Because they don't need you anymore, because I love Jimmy and you made him think he wasn't good enough for you, it's the other way around." She pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit its mark and Sydney dropped slowly to the ground closing her eyes. Eddie took the picture sending it to Erik. Moments later: _you're done, for now, Dad will be pleased. The third shift security knows to see you out for the night. Stuff her in one of the coffins._

Eddie muttered under her breath with a scoff. "Fat chance." She bent down piercing Sydney with a needle, which jolted Sydney conscious again. Her eyes opened wide as she inhaled sharply. "What happened!"

She smiled. "It worked, come on, time to get you out of this mess."

Sydney responded weakly. "I can't stay standing."

Jamie called through the night air. "Need a hand? I heard the shot and followed the sound." Eddie nodded.

Together they carried Sydney in the opposite direction they came from highway sounds getting louder. Sydney spoke staggered and exhausted. "What about them? Are they watching?"

Jamie shook his head. "No, I got a look at their security while we were waiting for you two, this area isn't under surveillance, it's a dead zone, which is ironic."

Eddie sighed. "Now's not the time Jamie…I can really hear the highway now. Erik said night security will see us back through the building to the car; I think we've jumped through our last hoop with these people."

Jamie nodded "Alright, come on Syd almost there." They were pulling her along now.

She was bleeding moderately and tiresomely quiet. "Almost where?"

Jamie smiled. "Did you think we'd leave you stranded here? We both took an oath to protect and serve."

Eddie sighed, "Sorry I had beat you up and shoot you to save your life."

Sydney smiled, "come on, you enjoyed it."

Eddie smiled back. "I've already had my enjoyment for the night, and this wasn't it, come on.

When they finally made it to the woods edge, Sydney collapsed from exhaustion. A vehicle was waiting for them. The door opened, and Special Agent Molina sprinted to help.

Her voice was low and anxious. "You two are crazier than Danny and Baez, you know how hard it was to get here and stay clear of their compound, I had to halt traffic along the highway in the dead of night. Thank god you let me put a tracker in your necklace Janko."

Eddie was blunt. "Just get her out of here."

She nodded raising her eyebrows. "Are you in?" They nodded. She sighed, "Well at least there is that." Jamie and Veronica settled Sydney into the car. Veronica looked at them apologetically. "I would drive you back too but…"

They shook their heads, Eddie was dismissive. "Its fine, really, their security is expecting us to come back through anyway." She nodded.

Sydney halted the door from being shut, she sounded uncertain. "Jamie, Eddie…I won't see you again, will I?"

Jamie shrugged. "All things considered, I think that's a good thing."

She smiled knowingly. "Take care of yourself, Jamie."

He smiled with solace. "You too Syd."

She tilted her head at Eddie. "Maybe do send wedding pictures, just so I know you are both okay?"

Eddie put her arm around Jamie smiling. "I will." She dropped her head on Jamie's shoulder.

The car door closed and a few minutes later it was out of sight.

Now walking, Jamie was quiet. "What time is it?"

Eddie checked her watch. "2:15 in the morning, I really wish we didn't have to walk all the way back to the car."

Jamie smiled squeezing Eddie gently. "Look on the bright side, you'll have walked off everything you ate at dinner…" She punched him lightly. "…and by the time we get back to the city, you're primed for breakfast, loud chewing and all."

Eddie laughed genuinely for the first time in hours. "Fine, I can be a bit mannish and chew with my mouth open when I eat, happy now."

Jamie kissed her on the forehead as the door they came from was back in view. He was quiet. "With you, I'm always happy."

Eddie smiled. "After you, lambchop." Jamie chuckled at the undercover nickname as he opened the door and then shut it behind them.

* * *

A/N: As I'm currently on break I will try to have another chapter soon😊


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: More sexual content in this chapter ( **scene VII** ) it's more fun and less emotional than last time, thus **M rated.** Just scroll past it if that's not your thing. The chapter took longer than expected.

Leave a review, you know, if you want😊

I don't own BB or profit from this or future stories in any way.

* * *

Erin sounded quizzical. "You know Jamie, I'm really confused why you're asking me about New York's rape laws and their statute of limitations?"

Jamie poorly sidestepped. "Just curious."

Erin was suddenly assuming at the look on Jamie's face. "Did something happen to Niki she couldn't tell me about?"

Jamie quelled her quickly. "Relax sis, not Niki."

Erin sighed in relief, she noticed his tense face. "That look on your face, I've only seen it once before…Eddie?" Jamie nodded stiffly. Erin tilted her head. "When?"

He was blunt. "When Eddie was 16, the guy was a senior in high school, which means 18 or 19."

Erin sighed again, subdued but blunt. "Even without knowing the details, movement on this wouldn't be likely…base is five years, and even given aggravating factors I'm sure its been longer than 15 years."

Jamie sighed. "Dammit, so he just gets off without suffering anything more than being expelled."

Erin raised her eyebrows confused. "I would think rape merits a lot more than getting expelled, this is why details would help."

Jamie sounded dry. "I guess it isn't rape, but it sure as hell is just as appalling."

Erin's expression was more subdued. "What could be worse than the hazing she went through that isn't rape?" Jamie whispered into his sister's ear, not wanting to say it aloud. Erin's face fell to the floor. "That is the saddest thing I've ever…no wonder she took the hazing so personally."

Jamie was tense. "Erin, the things she's been through, they're unnatural and so cruel it borders on cursed." He sighed. "it amazes me she is okay." He looked determined. "I feel like I need to defend her honor here because no one did it back then."

Erin was surprised. "She didn't tell her parents?"

Jamie wore a dry expression. "I met both of them, not the kind of parents that you open up too, especially about something like this."

Erin sighed. "Well, nothing can even be looked into without evidence or a name. Like it or not, the victim has to set things in motion and even then, federal charges are the longest of long-shots…she could pursue a civil suit if…" Erin suddenly became very quizzical. "…hang on, does Eddie know you are talking to me—very early—about this?"

Jamie stared aimlessly at his sister. "No, we just got back from the Hamptons a little while ago. I waited till she fell asleep, but I'm sure she still just knows instinctively anyway. She did not tell me his name, didn't want me trying to get street justice."

Erin gave a small smile and then folded her arms across her kitchen table with a knowing stare at her brother. "But you are anyway right?"

Jamie was tense. "If nothing else, I'm going to find this guy, rough him up some, and make sure the video isn't floating around online." He looked pained again. "You didn't see her when she told me, Erin, it was like a piece of her has never left that moment, and the rest her life has just rubbed salt in the wound."

Erin smiled sadly. "I won't say anything unless she asks me first."

Jamie nodded. "See you at 1PP later."

Erin sighed. "Another match on the ice with the police commissioner."

Jamie raised his eyebrows. "What?"

She was dismissive. "Nothing, see you later."

II

The match between Frank and Erin was tamer than in the past but still icy. In the end, Frank agreed to support the bill with a three-month test period amended to it. He did not want to muddy the water on an admittedly more important sex trafficking bill, that required Mendez's influence to push through. The rest of the week was annoyingly slow with no contact or movement from the Ortiz family for over a week, everything was quiet.

The following Saturday evening, Eddie took Erin out for an early dinner.

Erin was nonchalant. "You didn't have to pay."

Eddie shook her head. "Come on, you've seen how much I eat."

Erin smiled. "Two or three helpings of everything at every Sunday dinner. Still, it wasn't necessary."

Eddie shrugged, looking dismissive. "please, this was long overdue."

Erin tilted her head. "What for?"

Eddie smiled. "For helping Jamie come around on me."

Erin laughed. "Eddie, Jamie never needed to come around on you, he just needed to stop listening to his head long enough to listen to his heart." She sighed. "There is no middle ground with my brothers, Danny thinks too little, and Jamie thinks too much. As a cop, the latter is helpful but with love, not so much."

Eddie smiled. "You saw it clear as day."

Erin smiled again. "It was easy to see, you two have more than just love; you have the rest of what so many couples are missing to some degree; trust, honest communication, and friendship. Jack and I were always lacking in trust and communication, and Danny and Linda had everything except consistently honest communication." She sighed. "Believe me, there were plenty of times Danny and Linda would complain to me instead of talking to each other, it was like playing pickle in the middle and when you deal with much more dire problems for a living, and your own personal ones, that gets tiring." Erin shrugged. "Too many couples nowadays think it is unhealthy to disagree, bicker or argue, be glad you both don't have that issue, it's why your eventual marriage will be just fine."

Eddie smiled appreciatively with a casual inflection. "Thanks, we have done enough of all three in our five years as patrol partners. The truth is the job fostered everything we have."

Erin tilted her head looking swooned. "The job just strengthened something that existed from the first day you met, loyalty. A level of loyalty that few of even the most well-intending spouses have for each other." She sighed. "I should know, Jack and I are divorced, and lack of loyalty was just one reason why, and I'm not even talking about infidelity, we just never had each other's back in tough situations, and everything else broke down over time because of it."

Eddie tilted her head in admiration. "Jamie is the kind of person that inspires loyalty from anyone, even a rookie cop one week off academy graduation who thinks she knows how the job works." She smiled from ear to ear, "but I think the reason I fell in love with him is that he is always my knight in shining armor." Eddie finished with a sigh. "Even when I tell him not to go looking for street justice, he does it anyway."

Erin smiled awkwardly. "You know?"

Eddie nodded, "There's not a second that goes by that I don't know what Jamie is thinking or doing, even a week after he talks to you, well before dawn."

Erin swooned again. "Jamie takes to protect and serve seriously, to begin with, but when you're the one he is protecting and serving Eddie, his empathy is boundless. He wants to bear your pain even if you don't ask for help." Erin's face fell sympathetically. "Listen he told me about what happened to you in high school, you can't pursue federal charges because the statute of limitations has well passed; but god forbid the evidence is floating around online, a civil case for emotional distress is a slam dunk."

Eddie nodded gratefully. "I'll keep that in mind, I know Jamie will keep going until he's defended me, he's talking to Danny right now."

Erin sighed folding her hands. "I don't think a single Reagan wouldn't do exactly the same thing, your family now Eddie or you're going to be soon. We defend our family even when job politics or one of us says to stay out of it."

Eddie nodded. "Thank you."

III

Danny looked at Jamie seriously. He sighed. "Can't do much without a name Jamie."

Jamie bowed his head. "She didn't give me one, she thinks I will fly off the handle, at the least can tech guy look for the video, if this thing is floating around online…" He folded his hands looking pained. "I can't just hear the story and do-nothing Danny, not after I saw how much it crushed her."

Danny nodded. "I hear you kid. Our tech guy is a girl now, has been for quite a while, I will have her try and see if it's floating around online, but you're a lot better off asking Eddie for the moron's name and going from there."

He nodded back, "Thanks Danny, I should get home…another long day over at 1PP, and just long days all together right now."

Danny raised his eyebrows whispering. "Hey, how is the assignment going anyway?"

Jamie shrugged. "Well enough, no activity or movement in over a week though."

Danny nodded. "Keep yourselves alert and ready for anything.

Jamie turned dry. "We've already had plenty of practice, believe me."

IV

Back at home, Jamie found Eddie in the living room, she had moved the couch creating a sizable space on the floor. Jamie looked around in mild surprise as he tossed his keys on the counter.

He looked at her uncertainly. "Have you been doing yoga since you got home from dinner with Erin?"

She greeted him with a smile, meeting his forehead like they regularly did. Her voice was laid back. "No, but I do want to practice something in a bit." She looked at him pointedly. "How'd your visit with Danny go?"

He shrugged. "He said he would look into it, but it would be a lot easier with a name."

She sighed, "Did he pity me?"

Jamie went for levity. "Pity is not his style." She smiled. He shook his head. "No, he just wished I had a name so that he could see if the asshole popped for anything since then. I didn't give him any details, just the point, same as my sister."

Eddie sighed more deeply now. "Erin seemed to both envy us and pity me."

He held her ringed hand looking at Eddie calmly. "Envy because she loved Jack a lot more than he loved her, never getting the kind of support we give each other, and if there was any pity it is because she has Niki and sees this kind of stuff as a mother should."

Eddie nodded agreeably. "She said we have a level of loyalty even the best of spouses can only dream of, making this the perfect transition…" She moved with Jamie into where she cleared space in the living room.

Jamie raised his eyebrows as she smiled. "Transition to what?"

She turned on her music from her phone and came in close to him with a gentle inflection. "Practicing our wedding dance." The first notes of _everything I do_ by Bryan Adams rang over the apartment.

Jamie began moving slowly at Eddie's lead. He smiled. "This wasn't on your list?"

She rested her head against his adjusting the pace slightly with the music as they continued. "No, but it came up recently, and when I heard the lyrics again, I knew…they sum up everything we've been through and how we feel, don't you think?"

He had to admit having heard the song numerous times from the beginning to the end, it was a perfect echo for them. From the roadblock that delayed them, to their commitment on and off the job, and their willingness to die for each other out of sheer love. They danced more freely than just turning in a circle as the song came to its first chorus, with their arms around each other's backs.

Eddie smiled over his shoulder. "Well look at that Jamie, turns out you have good rhythm after all."

He moved his arms lazily around her neck smiling calmly. "Right place right time I do."

Eddie smiled as he just came up from a dip with her. "You ever think about what it will be like when we have kids?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, you ever think about when the kids are grown, and it's just us in our golden years."

Eddie nodded with a smile. "Yeah, we can gripe and complain about our version of the good old days for the NYPD, and you can start stories with 'well back when I was the PC.'"

Jamie raised his eyebrows with a small smile. "What makes you think I'll ever be PC?"

Eddie smiled tilting her head. "Just a hunch, something tells me you won't want to pick being a cop over raising a family, so you'll become a judge and take that experience with you when the PC job opens up. Of course, I think you'll leave the infant and toddler years to me…while you get promoted to Lieutenant along the way, but you'll give up the job by the time the kids turn eight or so, and maybe I will get back in the fold then."

Jamie shook his head. "I would never ask you to quit being a cop to raise kids when we have them, Eddie."

She smiled nodding her head. "I know, but I think I would, or maybe I'll be promoted by then, and we can run a squad together. The promoted cop doesn't face as much danger, but who knows really…"

The song was approaching its fade out, Jamie looked kindly at her. "I'd like that, but whatever happens doesn't really matter as long as we're married with a family."

Eddie grinned, "I love you."

He met her forehead again. "I love you too." They kissed deeply as the song faded away.

Eddie whispered over his shoulder afterward. "His name is Jeff Trist, the guy who conned me…back then." She looked hard into his eyes. "Just promise me you won't become your brother or Jimmy Riordan if you find him, okay."

Jamie compromised. "If he shows remorse, I will be civil, but if he is still a womanizing punk, I'm going to make sure I knock that out of him for good."

Eddie nodded in agreement. "Deal."

V

Jamie relayed the name to Danny who acquired Jeff Trist's contact info and gave it to his little brother. He wasted no time asking Jeff to meet him at the local bar, or more accurately outside of it. He was about Jamie's height with chaotic black hair and a rough look, he pulled UP on a motorcycle before getting off and looking around uncertainly.

His voice was gruff, he called out quizzically as he spotted Jamie standing casually against the wall of the bar. "Hey, you Reagan?"

Jamie called back bluntly striding over. "Yeah."

He looked at Jamie skeptically. "I was expecting uh…"

Jamie crossed his arms with a blunt stare. "a pretty, soft-spoken, Irish girl?" He smiled with satisfaction that Jeff was thrown for a loop. "Sorry to burst your bubble."

He shrugged masking intimidation he felt. "Why am I here?"

Jamie cut to the chase sounding blunt. "Eddie Janko."

He chuckled. "You know Easy Eddie?"

Strike one, Jamie kept himself casual. "She's a police officer now…I'm her Sargent and her fiancé."

Jeff crossed his arms sounding intrigued. "Really, does she wear a body cam? I wouldn't think she puts herself on film much, not after what happened in high school."

Strike two, Jamie's inflection became more intimidating. "What's that Jeff? Thought you'd have fun taking advantage of a virgin, did you?"

He still seemed nonchalant. "Oh, come on it was over 15 years ago, and it's not like I forced Janko into it, I was just a dumb kid, and she was gullible. Easy Eddie pretty much sums it up." He seemed to think that making light of it was a good idea. He shrugged sounding flat now. "Look, I don't still have the video if that's what she thinks, but I'm not naive enough to think that by passing it around the school other people didn't hold onto it, and with the Internet today, that its not floating around porn sites or something, you know how teenagers can be hormonal."

Okay so he wasn't a total asshole anymore, but he was still at two strikes. Jamie was again blunt. "Why did you do it in the first place? Conning her is bad enough but recording it and flaunting it around the school, what the hell was the matter with you, rubbing alcohol in her wound like that?"

Jeff shrugged again, "Like I said stupid kid, aiming to go out of high school with a bang, I did I guess, but I was expelled too, so it balanced out. Privately Jamie hated this, the guy wasn't so much of an asshole, but he wasn't exactly sympathetic about it either.

Jamie sighed. "Maybe to you, but I don't think so, and neither does she; so, if you ever have kids for the love of god, teach them to treat girls with respect." Jamie went to walk away but turned around again. "On second thought…" He kicked Jeff forcibly in the crotch. He bent down as Jeff buckled, with a blunt inflection in his voice. "At least that will decrease the odds that more of your stupidity ends up in the world. Consider it my punishment for taking advantage of my fiancée and any other nicknames there may have been." He finished in a low hiss, "Oh, and you're lucky I didn't know Eddie back then, because if I did and you still managed to do what you did to her, I would have made sure you wound up in jail for statutory rape!"

Jeff was defensive and irritated now. "She did it voluntarily man. Trust me, the only thing she didn't like was the video, and the fact that most people around school called Eddie Maximum Orgasm Janko."

Strike three, Jamie punched Jeff hard square in the face. "You emotionally conned her out of something no girl should be conned out of and recorded it!" She cried in my arms, and Eddie doesn't cry!" He punched him until his nose broke.

Jeff was reeling in agony still clutched by Jamie whose punching hand was shaking now. Jeff looked scared, "Don't, it was a lifetime ago, what kind of cop just beats someone up?"

Jamie suddenly unclenched his hand pulling Jeff up by his coat. He was quiet but threatening. "What kind of person cons a girl out of their virginity just to boost a reputation that doesn't even matter in the real world!" He busted Jeff's jaw just for good measure, before finally relenting with venom still in his voice. "Just to educate you a little, minors can't give consent! I don't care how small the math was, my family would have made sure you rot, and my sister always prosecutes rape cases to the max sentence!"

Jeff had a sudden realization. "You are one of those Reagans? Look, man, I'm sorry, but that's was no reason to beat the crap out of me!"

He nodded and scoffed, "Well, maybe you'll remember this for the rest of your life the way Eddie remembers what you did, and then things will be somewhat balanced out. Have a good night Jeff." Jamie left without looking back.

VI

Jamie returned home to a reset apartment. Eddie turned when she heard Jamie come through the door and walked hastily to him, frowning at the blood across his right hand. He winced when she held it in hers, Eddie pulled him gently to the couch.

She sat down next to him sounding flat. "Jamie, I hope this is the last time you get street justice for me, I should have stopped you like when you stopped me. It is just as dumb as what I almost did to Singer."

He gave a reassuring smile that matched his voice. "Don't worry, he's in one piece." He shrugged. "I busted his nose and jaw and made it harder for him to have kids, but I let him walk away."

Eddie sighed sadly looking at his injured hand. "That's not the only thing you busted Jamie. So, he was a punk still?"

Jamie shrugged, "He wasn't a total ass, he doesn't have the video still, but seemed to care less about what he did to you, said that it could be floating around online. My last straw was the nicknames and mentioning them like it was something to laugh about." Eddie shook at the last of his words.

Eddie spoke quietly. "Please god no don't let it be all over the Internet, that's the last thing I need is to somehow start hearing any of the nicknames again. People would make orgasm noises at me every damn day, and in a private school, it didn't blow over."

Jamie was consoling. "I've already got the tech girl at Danny's precinct looking for it to purge it if need be."

Eddie looked at Jamie with a pained expression. "If it is online, then it is everywhere." She sighed noticing how he jerked his hand when she put pressure on the center of it. "You have a pretty bad sprain and bruising from the looks of it. She grew emotional now. "Thank god it wasn't your shooting hand. A mobster who can't hold a gun would not be good, are you trying to drive me crazy."

Jamie gave a casual smile, "You should see the other guy."

Eddie leaned into him closing her eyes sounding desperate and yet gently blunt with him. "Jamie, you can't attack every guy that hurts me, if you pick the wrong fight you could get killed, and that can't happen!" She pleaded quietly hugged against his body. "I need you, we need you…" She teared up now.

Jamie sighed squeezing her hand. "Eddie, I'm fine, and I thought we had a deal? He was an ass still so I…" His eyes narrowed realizing the end of her words. "Hold on, did you just say, _we need you_?"

Eddie tilted her head with a small smile. "It turns out that you were right about how good you are at making babies." Eddie's other hand moved absentmindedly to her stomach, she was smiling from ear to ear now. "I'm pregnant Jamie!"

Jamie looked like a little boy for the first time Eddie had ever seen. His smile was a large grin, he responded as though he had not heard. "You're pregnant?"

Eddie nodded smiling brightly. "Yes _dad_ , we'll have our own little rookie before too long." The designation of a father left him momentarily dazed.

Jamie tackled Eddie gently to her back, lifting her shirt and kissing her stomach several times and then met her forehead in a surprised whisper. "How long have you known?"

Eddie whispered back gently, "Since this morning, no one else knows, I knew you were on a crusade, so I waited until now to tell you." She gently held his sprained and bruised hand, not even caring that his blood was on her fingers now.

Jamie held his other hand on her stomach. His response was noticeably ecstatic. Eddie this is fantastic, it really is!" He kissed her for a long, long time resting his uninjured hand in her hair, before pulling back gently, sounding subdued as he met her eyes. "You saved me again."

She tilted her head uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

Jamie sighed emotionally. "I almost did not stop punching him Eddie, one punch after another. I heard his nose snap like a twig, and I wasn't going to stop until I heard your voice in my head, and I felt my fist relax into my hand again, but the rage shook through my hand." He cried silently for the first time since Joe's death. "I've tried not to admit this, but I have Danny's blind rage."

Eddie touched his face with a consoling look as she shook her head. "Neither of you has blind rage Jamie, both of you take to protect and serve very seriously. Your rage comes from the fact that you both have boundless empathy for victims, whether they are strangers on the streets of New York City, or the people you love and when you combine boundless empathy with a boundless sense of justice, you can go to extremes sometimes." She met his forehead sounding gently emphatic, "But I know that you are an amazing person, one who will be an amazing dad and won't hesitate to act in defense of our family."

Jamie put his arms around her sounding overwhelmingly grateful. "For years after mom and Joe died, I was just going through the motions, happy in school or my job but not in life. Then we met, and so quickly all I wanted was you as my wife and the mother of my children…I love you, Eddie."

She stayed glued to his forehead sounding just as emotional. "I love you too." They kissed making sure to linger.

When they broke the kiss, Jamie was newly subdued. "We still have to be mobsters, what are we going to do about that?"

Eddie tilted her head with a light expression. "Kick mobster ass and finish this assignment as fast as possible. It might not take long considering how fast you managed to get me pregnant, but let's not worry about that now, I just want to be with you." She got up and then left the room.

Jamie called lightly after her. "Did I miss something?"

She came back a few minutes later with medical supplies. Eddie smiled while she sat next to Jamie again sounding rhetorical. "A little too hard to stitch yourself up right?"

He looked at his bleeding hand and the bruised knuckles sounding indifferent. "Yeah."

Eddie sat on the coffee table grabbing his injured hand carefully. She responded with a tender expression. "Alright partner, I will stitch this up, and then we can celebrate how I planned."

Jamie raised his eyebrows sounding cautious. "Is that safe for you?"

Eddie wore a small smile at his concern. "That's later in pregnancy that it gets a bit problematic." She turned suddenly contemplative. "But I have read that getting mouthy below the belt is risky, a shame because I like your work downstairs." She had a teasingly quizzical expression now. "You think you can table that for a while?"

Jamie smirked at her. "As long as I'm not completely cut off, I'll be fine, but you won't make it."

Eddie chuckled as she continued working on his injured hand. "Oh, you think so Reagan because I'd hate to see what you are like when you can't tap this at all."

He smiled at her sounding rhetorical. "You already know, you've had a front row seat to that for five years."

Eddie shook her head with a knowing grin and a mocking inflection behind her response. "Yeah, like starting a fight over me, at _someone else's_ rehearsal dinner."

Jamie shook his head in mild amusement. "You're never going to let me off the hook for that are you?"

Eddie smiled as she sewed the last of the open wound on Jamie's hand shut, preparing to wrap it. Her voice was suggestively compromising. "Sure, if you let me off the hook for Terra?"

Jamie passively shrugged his shoulders smiling at Eddie. "I guess we can find new cards to play. I'm sure we'll have our fair share after we are married, thankfully not from jealousy. It will be nice to fight over something else."

Eddie steadily completed her wrap around of Jamie's hand. He suddenly looked like a fighter that had been through a tough match, which she found extremely hot. She chuckled agreeably at the last of his words. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you like bickering with me?"

Jamie had a modest but admittingly blunt expression. "Well, my sister reminded me years ago that I've always had a type; feisty, opinioned women."

Eddie smiled with a grin. "Oh, so I _am_ your type, after all, I guess you're a good liar Reagan." She looked at him curiously. "How do you explain Sydney then?"

Jamie shrugged. "Outlier, the more I think about it the only thing we had in common was law. Honestly, looking back now, I don't know how I ever fell in love with her, I can't stand passive women."

Now finished tending to Jamie's injured hand, Eddie sat on his lap dropping her head against his. "Love doesn't make sense, people fall in and out of it all the time." She met his forehead in a longing gaze it his green eyes. "I still find myself falling in love with you, every second of every day."

Jamie smiled looking at her seriously. "Listen, Eddie, if it's okay with you, I would like to name our kid after my mom or brother depending on what we have."

Eddie smiled with a praising expression. "Mary or Joseph."

Jamie shared a hesitant look with her. "Too biblical?"

Eddie shook her head looking at Jamie with an emotionally emphatic expression that matched her response. "Your brother's death is the reason we met at all, and your mother is where your kindness comes from, the biggest reason I love you." She touched her stomach with a guilty inflection. "I know it's awful and selfish of me, but I'm thankful. I would not have you if not for what Joe's death inspired in you." Eddie melted into his chest becoming extremely empathetic. "They both mean a lot to me too even though I never met them, and this honors their memory."

He smiled with solace. "They would have loved you."

She looked at him with a melancholy smile. "I wish I could have met them, come to think of it I didn't meet Linda either, not even in passing." Eddie sighed, "That's probably why my helping Shawn rubbed Danny the wrong way."

Jamie nodded agreeably. "Danny would never admit it, but I think he sees in us the one thing that was missing from his relationship with Linda, total communication, even in disagreement." He sounded gauging now. "I think on some level he wishes he would have leaned on her more than he did when it comes to coping with the job, and now he has to do it alone." Jamie sighed sympathetically. "I think that eats at him a lot."

Eddie kissed Jamie briefly and then spoke with a sadly blunt inflection holding him tightly. "I, couldn't cope with the job without you Jamie, especially the long and tough days."

He squeezed her ring hand gently with his bandaged one, sounding very much the same. "Me either, so I guess it's true that only cop spouses can fully understand each other."

Eddie nodded agreeably. "I'm impressed Danny and Linda made it work though." She sighed. "I couldn't do it, but you pretty much had a front row seat to that." She smiled again. "Still, cop or not you're it for me Reagan, so maybe I'm coming around to the idea of soul mates."

Jamie smiled and flexed his injured hand slightly as something occurred to him. "I didn't know you could sew and stitch."

Eddie smiled with an absentminded tone. "My grandmother taught me, she used to say that I needed to learn how because most men don't have the patience for it and she didn't want me wasting money buying new clothes unnecessarily once I was married. That was when I was a little girl before dad got rich."

Jamie had a curious tone. "is this the same grandmother that's your namesake?"

Eddie nodded, "Yup, Edit actually means joyous, she's the whole reason I was eventually born here in America, she and my grandfather worked very hard earning money to come over and finally did when my mother was about ten." Her face became very ironic as she remembered some details behind her name. "I've read that people with the name respect others confidences, like order and detail while not liking change and can be restless or insecure." She blushed meeting his forehead again, her inflection was rather tickled. "Oh, and the Edits of the world make excellent partners, but what is the numerology of a name really."

Jamie smiled sharing in the irony. "pretty accurate, at least for who you are."

Eddie chuckled as her hand found its way to her stomach again. She had a glowing look as she locked eyes with the father of her unborn child. "I can't wait to be parents."

Jamie put his uninjured hand over hers sounding complacent. "Me too."

She turned into Jamie's body again, initiating a long and deeply passionate kiss as they collapsed to their backs on the couch; Eddie looking to follow through on her earlier promise of making love in celebration of successfully getting pregnant.

 **VII**

Eddie smiled at Jamie when they broke the kiss, steadily taking off his jacket and shirt and tossed them over the back of the couch, quickly ascending his chest with her lips. His upper body was not ripped like a bodybuilder, but it was toned like a firefighters build, and she loved the latter more than the former, especially on Jamie, because he kept it so well.

Eddie had a charged look as she came away from another lip lock. "How did I end up with someone so hot, and equally selfless, it does not happen, not to me." Eddie sounded beside herself with heat as she focused on his neck.

He chuckled lightly. "I don't really do anything other than box and chase perps to stay in shape."

Eddie smiled, "Me too, except I kickbox and chase perps." She gave a small sigh. "I would definitely bench myself by the time the baby is moving around though. Maybe that is overly cautious, but with my life before you, I'm not taking chances with our baby."

Jamie placed his hand against Eddie's stomach mildly concerned. "Do you really think the universe is out to get you?"

She responded sadly meeting his forehead. "I'm pretty gun shy, which literally applies to me."

He smiled reassuringly. "You have me to push back against the universe."

Eddie chuckled lightly. "I really love you, Jameson Reagan, for thinking you can stop the universe from hassling me all by yourself."

He chuckled back quietly. "I don't, but the point is that you can count on me, no matter what."

She smiled again, clearly charged in her eyes the blue of which was very present right now. "I know, so let me spoil you for a while."

Eddie unzipped Jamie's jeans and grew a satisfied smile when his member popped free of them because she did not anticipate that he would ride freely or that he would already have hard on, it turned her to the point that she felt herself getting hot immediately. "Are you always ready to go, Reagan?"

Jamie gave a blunt response. "Around you, yes." He wore a smile now. "That's probably the only good thing about not being your partner anymore, it's a bit easier on my physiology, not to mention my hormones but I think I hid things pretty well while we were."

Eddie ran her fingers slowly along his member relishing his grateful expression. Her voice was teasingly playful through a smile. "Not that well Reagan, there were plenty of times your boner was impossible to miss. Usually when we were off duty, so I guess I will give you credit for staying cool during work hours, but really Jamie, all the flirting and the remarks full of sexual tension, not to mention the jealousy, you teased me for so long."

Jamie smirked at her with arousal in his eyes that transferred to his member, which she began to slowly tease the head off with her tongue. Jamie's voice was slightly wry in response. "Hey, you're just as guilty as I am with all that." The erotic sensation rising in his groin left Jamie in appreciative of Eddie's calculated spoiling of him.

Her response was sexually heated by the size and length of his increased erection, she found herself flattered by the escalation. "Okay, the point is I had to ignore your boners on far too many occasions, Reagan, but I don't have to these days, and I'm going to make sure I spoil you like I sad you would be once you finally tapped this. You didn't have to get me pregnant now, but you did because even though it is not smart at all, that's what I wanted."

Jamie looked at Eddie with glowing light in his eyes blinking through emotion. "I wanted that too and let's face it our jobs don't really leave a right time to start a family so I'm glad we aren't waiting for downtime that we might never get."

She smiled with an inflection of love and admiration behind figurative words. "That's why I'm glad you're a really good shot Reagan…now hang on for the ride."

Eddie lowered Jamie's jeans from around his waist and started her blowjob on his member, moving her tongue along the shaft with the head occupying the shallow part of her mouth. She spent several minutes going up and down on him at a speedy pace until he climaxed, firing off in the process. His fluids left a rather pleasant taste in her mouth, making Eddie pleased that she could just treat it like taking a drink and did not have to break stride with what she was doing, it was quite a while before she took a break.

Eddie's voice was light and playful as she stared into Jamie's eyes again. "See, I told you that you were a good shot."

Jamie smiled as he ran his fingers slowly through her hair, lost in the currently expanded blue of her eyes, his inflection was of self-annoyance. "I hate that I have to reload, how come women can just keep going and going."

She chuckled with a grin, "Well we do grow babies in our bodies and then painfully have to push them out, Reagan. I guess God thought multiple orgasms should be exclusive to us, a decent tradeoff for pregnancy and labor, you know."

He nodded with an agreeable expression. "Hard to argue with him there."

Eddie held his face with a smile. "But I think I can get you recharged pretty quickly." She took off his sweatshirt that she was wearing and tossed it behind the couch with his discarded shirt. Eddie was in green lingerie this time, and after teasing his lips with hers for a moment, kissed Jamie fervently.

They merged together wrapping their arms around each other still kissing for a few minutes while Eddie added Jamie's jeans to the pile of discarded clothes. She went after his now exposed jewels massaging them gently with her lips. He did the same to both of her breasts monetarily, before removing her bra for better access to both of them. The two of them connected lips again for a while and then Eddie returned to his member, and he watched with amazement as she took him in entirely. Eventually closing her lips against his groin while holding his jewels in her hand, she literally had all of his most delicate assets right now. It threw Jamie for a loop how much he enjoyed it, both visually and as a stimulus from the warmth of her breath which seemed to slowly spread to his whole body as she began puckering and releasing her lips several times. Soon she carefully took her mouth away, and Jamie hitched while she watched his eyes again, which seemed so dilated the green of his irises spread to his pupils.

He sounded impressed looking at his fiancée in amazement. "Okay I have to know, how did you manage that?"

She smiled sounding flattered and amused. "With how much exercise my mouth gets from eating that was easy. I figured I would put it to good use and give you a proper thank you for getting me pregnant." Eddie took his member in her hand vertically sounding no less charged, she clearly wasn't done. "There's still something I haven't given much attention to though, time to fix that." With a heated smile, she licked his balls several times, breaking routinely to watch his reaction.

Jamie sounded spurred on by the pleasure. He wore a look of escalating satisfaction "There's no way this could be any better."

She sounded amused now. "Please, that was just an appetizer."

Eddie moved in and opened her mouth wide taking in both of his jewels without difficulty and quickly found out that she had much more freedom with his jewels in her mouth than his member. The drawback of deep throating was it left her tongue otherwise immobile, so working with his jewels was a fun change of pace for her. She started slowly swirling her tongue around them for several minutes in a circle, focusing on his scrotum a little too as she went along, steadily upping the pace and eventually adding a hum with her lips. Eddie loved being able to freely use her tongue on them relishing the response that came from Jamie as she did.

He felt his whole body overcome by an intensely sexual sensation, his reaction was, for once, driven by the increase in hormones. "You know, I'm not surprised this has been incredible, you do like to eat." He felt her lightly graze her teeth against his jewels in response and lost himself in the pleasure of it. He was so turned on now. "That's right Janko, it's all you can eat, take all you want!" Within a few minutes, the pace and heat from her work left Jamie in a state of aggressive enjoyment. "Your drink is on its way."

Eddie noted his warning and released his balls in time to catch more discharge amid an extremely audible climax that included heavy breathing. Staggered breaths afterward told Eddie that Jamie needed a break. She met his eyes with a satisfied smirk. "It amazes me how much watching me eat turns you on Reagan, I took enough of a shot to tide me over."

Jamie responded with laziness as he cooled down. "It's like you've had years of experience."

Eddie met his forehead with an emphatic expression in her eyes and a tender change in her voice. "Trust me, Jamie, you are the only one that I would try anything and everything with, and I'm glad I found what makes you tick." Eddie looked at him suggestively before taking off her underwear and tossing into the discard pile. She sounded charged now. "Time for you to return the favor, Sargent!"

Jamie smiled through a smirk. "Did you just give me order when I'm the senior officer?"

Eddie's eyes flashed with a sexual heat that matched her voice, "You are not going to follow it, after how much I spoiled you? Don't make me have to give you a rip, Boy Scout." He made to kiss her, but she stopped Jamie with her hand and directed him elsewhere sounding blunt. "Below the belt, Reagan."

He raised his eyebrows. "I thought that I wasn't supposed to do?"

Eddie shrugged and conveniently remembered the technical no-no with giving cunnilingus during pregnancy. "Now that I think about it, blowing air in there is the only thing that is dangerous because it can cause an air embolism, so don't get windy down there and everything will be fine." She smiled looking contemplative. "Now how to go about it."

Jamie nodded "You're the visionary here, I'm just following orders."

She smiled. "Well in that case…"

Eddie made Jamie lay upside down with his head and his back on the seat of the sofa, and his legs draped over the back of it. Eddie knelt over Jamie's face, facing the back of the couch, the resulting formation gave them easy access to each other's genitalia, making them both feel sexually charged and ready to have unprecedented fun with something else that neither of them had ever done.

Eddie sounded very pleased with herself. "How's your view partner?"

Jamie suddenly found her entire scent intoxicating. It was emanating from every part of her body. He felt the heat from her here meet his face, his response was quiet and boyish. "Perfect, yours?"

Eddie gave an excited response. "Perfect!"

Jamie went in first, running his hands along her inner thighs, slowly and with the softest touch until both of them met on top of her clit. Eddie's lengthy exhale was clearly appreciating it. He started slowly circling his hand around her clit, trying to really get the feel of it and not just get her going.

Eddie breathed his name quickly. "Jamie…"

He called back quietly. "Yeah?"

She continued complacently. "I love you, you touch my heart and body in ways I did not think I would ever feel. The most complicated or simplest things, there is no bar you need to hit with me, everything we do when we are together is amazing and making our first baby was the most comfortable, I have ever been." She finished with a grateful sigh as he massaged her inner thighs again, adding her outer thighs this time.

Jamie smiled sounding appreciatively dismissive as he continued her massage. "You may not have a bar for us, but I always have a bar for how I treat you. Sometimes I fall short, like with the wedding venue."

Eddie massaged Jamie's member slowly in both her hands, sounding constructive in response. "I think the big problem there was piggybacking off the advice of a guy that is chronically lazy with no motivation and had no business being a police officer." She gave his jewels a light squeeze, Jamie sighed agreeably as she continued in a much softer tone. "You hit the bar again with that old-timey restaurant, you always hit the bar again when you take a mulligan."

Jamie chuckled lightly. "I am a bit dense at times, but I never make the same mistake twice." Keeping his hands busy with Eddie's deep tissue leg massage, he started licking her clit now, slowly and staggered. The result had Eddie in lazy breaths. He responded passively in between his wet down of her clit. "I did worry that the pub would be too much like an Irish restaurant."

Eddie laughed as the pleasure came over her like an intensely slow drip effect. "I love to eat, so I think you nailed it." Her inflection turned intense matching how she was feeling. "Just like you're nailing me right now, besides I just wanted something more than a fly by night ceremony and a slightly different version of what happens every Sunday. Honestly, the brunch part was what ticked me off the most and then you called our wedding day a waste, probably your dumbest moment around me Reagan and that includes when you thought I threw you under the bus with IA, and what led to our matching black-eyed dance." Jamie apologized again by stimulating her clit in a continuously fast pace with his tongue. Her sex drive seemed to have broken its usual threshold because all she did was ask for more. Jamie continued, moving his head in all directions along her pussy. The added sensation of his hair constantly brushing against her skin, in combination with everything else Jamie was already doing made her more sexually charged than ever.

Eddie sounded primal and overcome by hormones and heavy breathing now. "I'm so glad I can finally, after five annoying years, have you do this to me anytime I want and somehow everytime you fuck me is better than last time. Don't you dare stop fucking me Reagan, I'm not there yet!"

Soon her body went upright and Jamie sent Eddie over the edge when he moved one hand from her legs and started to finger her pussy. He began steadily alternating between her pussy and her anus (Eddie's new position gave free access to both sides) so that she was getting four different kinds of stimulation with his activities while she assumed more of a true face sitting position. When Eddie realized that Jamie could handle if she let her body weight go—short of smothering him of course—her climax came in sexually charged screams for the first time ever. A blinding cluster of orgasms, the pleasure of which mixed together in several concussive blasts through her entire body, as she came like a bomb blast into Jamie's face which he took in stride. At that point, he knew she had peaked for tonight, and so they reset themselves normally on the couch, laying on their backs Eddie wrapped in Jamie's arms, his still fully erect member teasingly pleasant against her skin.

She sighed happily absentminded, touching one side of his face her engaged left hand. Eddie sounded newly impressed. "Fuck Reagan, I've never had an exploding orgasm before, and you handled it like a champ. I'm still coming down, and your endless boner doesn't help. That was incredible and makes that damn video from high school a little easier to ignore."

Jamie grinned as he massaged both her boobs with his hands. "It will end, I'm not a machine or anything, they're just so frequent because around you I am always happy, turned on, or both." He sounded a bit quizzical now. "What was with that position though? Were you just trying to give me easy access or what?"

Eddie chuckled, "oh that, I meant for both of us to work at the same time. You just got me so hot that I couldn't hold up my end, or actually, I guess that's your end, but you know what I mean. She shrugged admiringly. "I guess I need practice with that, I never really thought I would be into queening." She sounded apologetic now. "Sorry I had to let my body weight go at the end, I know it's a bit much to have my exclusive parts almost literally on your face, but it didn't slow you down at all."

Jamie chuckled dismissively with a grin and kissed her forehead. "Trust me, anything I can't handle I will let you know."

Eddie sounded relieved now. "I'm just glad I don't have a killer vulva, that would be an awkward homicide investigation."

Jamie laughed in her ear. "Always with the corny or inappropriate jokes, oh I love you Janko, but hopefully our kid has a more sophisticated sense of humor."

Eddie grinned back. "You know you love it. Besides I cannot wait to spoil our rookie."

Jamie smiled. "Me too." They both placed their hands on the bottom of Eddie's stomach. She spoke quietly. "How are we going to protect this little guy or girl from the mob?"

Jamie rubbed her stomach sounding emphatically adamant in response. "To protect our baby, I will do whatever is necessary!"

She whispered quietly, "don't forget, I need you, we need you."

Jamie held her firmly as he whispered back. "I'm not going anywhere, except to bed with you."

'Eddie smiled, "That sounds perfect, but I need to bring food with me since I'm eating for two."

Jamie smiled. "I'm here to cater to you for the next nine months." He kissed her and then carried Eddie into the bedroom.

They robed themselves, and she crawled into the bed while Jamie gathered food for Eddie and himself to eat, dinner in bed as it were, making as much of a well-balanced meal as he could with what was available. Once she fell asleep on a full stomach it finally struck Jamie that the good loop in his head would soon be a reality, he would finally be a father. The only question was what it would look like. As Jamie watched Eddie sleep on his chest for quite a while, he found himself still longing for a daughter that would be just like her mother, and those thoughts occupied his dreams again once he fell asleep too.

VIII

Jamie's injured hand was noticed by everyone at Sunday dinner, and eventually became conversation around the table which Jamie kept dodging questions about.

Danny was fixating on his little brother's injury now, with an irritated stare. "So, you are not going to tell us why there is a brace on your hand?"

Jamie shrugged, "Boxing, I sprained it and busted my knuckles a bit."

Danny pressed. "No one hurts there hand that badly from boxing practice. Did you do what I think you did?"

Sean was cross. "Sounds like he did something you would usually do."

Erin did not want this topic coming up in front of the kids. "Nicky, you and Shawn are on dish duty."

Nicky nodded with a shrug. "That's code for _let the adults talk._ Never mind that I am one, let's go, Shawn…"

After they left shutting the door behind them. Danny sounded angry. "You went after him didn't you, now he can press charges for assault you idiot."

Jamie scoffed. "You're going to lecture me about losing my cool when he did what he did to MY family?"

Danny raised his voice sharply. "You are still undercover Jamie, you could create a dangerous situation that blows a federal operation!

Jamie shot back bluntly. "You should have taken it then! I'm not a kid anymore, and I have a year undercover and nine years on the job, quit trying to be Joe and back off."

Henry cut in tempering the room. "Calm down, and someone please explain what is going on here."

Danny scoffed at Jamie. "He beat up a guy because he got to Eddie first, like a petty teenager."

Jamie shook with rage. "If this were Linda, you'd be flying off the handle too!"

Danny gave a rebuttal. "Can't say I would because I can realize it was during high school and happened more than a decade and a half ago."

Eddie's voice was low but dangerous. "Don't you dare trivialize it, I was never the same, never. He deserved it, and I'm still the one all these years later who will have to deal with it if it's floating around, so take your two cents and shove it." Eddie looked ready to cry again. "Just help me find and get rid of it for good."

Danny looked sympathetically blunt now. "Eddie I was not trying to minimize anything, but I was targeting Jamie for reacting to something that happened when you were 16." He sighed, "I got word back, this thing is viral in the deep web."

Eddie looked at Jamie with anguish. "Oh God, I can't…believe it." Her face turned like she was fighting back something other than tears. "I think I'm going to be sick!" She ran quickly from the room and could be heard throwing up in the kitchen moments later.

Henry looked confused. "Would someone please explain what is going on? I'm lost."

Frank answered with blunt indifference. "it's me too pop."

He nodded. "Exactly."

Frank shook his head. "No pop… _me, too_." Henry nodded again showing recognition with a deep sigh.

Erin sighed sadly. "that's the second time I haven't been able to pursue federal charges for her…and she has been through even more than that."

Eddie came back sounding indifferent. "I have, but my running out was not about that it was just bad timing."

Danny was quizzical. "Food then I don't get it, you've had way more food than that before and kept it down just fine."

Jamie looked at her with a predictable expression. "Happened this morning with the fruity cereal too, so it looks like we know what to stay away from now."

Eddie soured. "I normally like that mixed berry pie, why can't the rookie hate veggies or something?"

Jamie held her hand rubbing her back. "We don't get to pick what the baby likes and doesn't like."

Erin exclaimed quickly. "Whoa, talk about withholding key evidence, did you just say baby?"

They blushed. "Um yeah." Jamie shrugged. "We weren't going to make a formal announcement." Eddie nodded. "Slipping it in seemed more fun, but I did not think I'd throw up again."

Danny grinned at his little brother. "The baby of the family is having a baby himself."

Eddie was light and blunt. "Oh, so he's pushing a baby out of his body then?"

Danny concedes Eddie's point with a light inflection. "Fine, raising a baby."

Eddie beamed back. "I'm only clarifying because the rookie Reagan could end stretching me so much that they end up as tall as Frank."

Jamie gave opposite extreme with a smile. "Or as short as you Eddie."

Erin picked on her brother. "Let's just hope this kid doesn't take after his father constantly swallowing things."

Eddie tilted her head at Jamie curiously. "What's that about?"

Erin smiled. "Our baby brother was seven years old before he finally learned to stop putting stuff in his mouth."

Danny nodded with irony. "Of all the things that finally broke him of it, play dough…he ate so much in one sitting that he had to have his stomach pumped."

Eddie grinned sideways at Jamie with a smile. "Oh, I'm so going to tease you about this Boy Scout!"

Jamie rolled his eyes. "I'm glad we're naming the baby after mom or Joe, they never teased me about it, and I wouldn't pull at that kind of thread, Edit."

The door burst back open quickly. Shawn and Nicky responded together. "Baby!" Nicky exclaimed loudly. "I finally get to be an aunt!" She ran and hugged Eddie tightly. "I'm so glad you rode with my uncle. When I finish college, I'm joining the academy." She turned to Frank with a blunt request, "Grandpa, I know you don't pull favors, but once I'm on the job could you make sure Aunt Eddie is my training officer?"

Frank smiled. "That I certainly can do, but don't get too far ahead of yourself Nicky, there's no timetable for wearing NYPD blue when you finish college."

Eddie was still dazed by how she had been addressed. "You called me aunt?"

Nicky sat down next to Eddie smiling at her. "Felt like the right time to start practicing."

Shawn smiled. "I'm not the youngest anymore. Now seeing you throwing up in the sink isn't as bad. I'm just glad that we got out of the way in time."

Eddie responded with slight embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

Henry circled back to something with interest. "You're naming the baby after Mary or Joe?"

Jamie nodded with a quiet inflection. "Yeah pop, we both agreed it felt right because…" He trailed off.

Eddie grabbed Jamie's hand. "I, we wouldn't be here if Joe… it's the most awful thing to think or feel."

Frank sounded measured. "The way I see it, Danny would have no brothers without you ending up in Jamie's life." He sighed "we cannot wonder why God takes some things from us while giving us just as much that we never expect to have. What's most important is appreciating what we have and remembering what we've lost." He smiled at both Jamie and Eddie and continued cheerfully. "I couldn't be more thrilled for the both of you, it's been almost two decades since there was a baby in the family and this time, I get to spend a lot more time with my grandchild."

Eddie was emotional now. "thank you, grandpa." Frank's smile grew as Jamie put his arm around Eddie.

IX

After dinner, Jamie and Eddie sat in the den with Frank and Danny. They knew the discussion would turn serious again. They were still undercover, and a pregnancy would complicate things, making them much more dangerous.

Danny was blunt. "Let me and Baez sub in for you two."

Jamie was equally blunt. "I don't know about her, but this family would sniff you out immediately Danny."

Eddie agreed, "They nearly sniffed us out twice…we had to fight like hell to get in with them, I was shot for this we're not quitting."

Danny pressed. "Eddie you are pregnant."

Eddie insisted with a chuckle. "If it takes us nine months to wrap this operation then we know we aren't cut out for undercover narcotics."

Frank cautioned her with a furrowed brow. "You can't put a timetable on working undercover, especially when there is federal interest." He looked at his son with a blunt expression. "You know that better than everyone."

Jamie sighed. "I want to force their hand and end this."

Frank exhaled with a blunt expression. "These things don't work like that…you'll know when you can push and when to play along."

Again, on cue, Jamie's burner phone rang, and he answered with irritation. "You don't call for almost two weeks, and now you bother me on Sunday night, what couldn't wait?"

Erik sounded nonchalant. "There's an informal party at our restaurant tomorrow night, around seven. We want you to meet the rest of the group, and family."

Jamie was blunt. "We're not going to get jumped again, are we?"

Erik gave casual reassurance. "Not this time. We've done a lot more checking over the last two weeks after Dad became impressed with both of you. The invitation is his and I wouldn't refuse it."

Jamie sounded relaxed now. "We'll be there."

Erik responded enthusiastically. "Good, it will give you both a chance to loosen up and relax, you've been on edge the whole time."

Jamie was blunt. "Just waiting for everyone to pull their heads out of their asses."

Erik was indifferent. "I'll keep that to myself, see you tomorrow Jimmy." He hung up moments later.

Frank and Danny remained silent during the entire phone conversation. Danny quipped sounding impressed. "I can already see the flipped switch. What did he want?"

Jamie sounded dull. "Party at their restaurant."

Eddie sounded irritated. "You mean we don't have to shoot someone this time?"

Danny cautioned. "Don't let your guard down just because it is a party."

Frank piggybacked equally cautious. "Most mob parties are a laid-back environment to see if new blood slips up, something less obvious than holding people at gunpoint or making them shoot someone." He became quizzical. "Have you made any progress?"

Jamie sighed. "We've gotten a general look at places where they operate, including a distribution warehouse, not one ounce of drugs yet."

Eddie also sighed in annoyance. "It is like trying to figure out the secret to a magic trick, you only know if the magician lets you in on the secret."

Frank nodded. "I know you've probably been resisting the idea of becoming friends with this crime family, but if you want to end this quickly, the best thing to do is become likable to them."

Jamie's face turned uncomfortable. "Just when I was trying to avoid a repeat of Noble."

Danny reminded his older brother quietly. "The first rule of a successful long-term undercover assignment, cater to the target, the rest will eventually take care of itself." He smiled. "But if you have to flip a switch, I think you'll be just fine." He turned to Jamie again. "Just hope that what you did assaulting that doesn't bite you in the ass with these people." Jamie nodded silently.

Eddie leaned against Jamie sounding tired. "Right now, the only switch I want to flip is one that lets us get a full nights rest, the baby needs the sleep."

Jamie nodded pulling Eddie to her feet and supporting her with his around her back. "We should get home."

Frank nodded gently to both of them. "Congratulations, again both of you." He smiled at Jamie. "Your mother and brother would be honored that you are naming the baby after either of them and me, any father hopes to one day be humbled by the feats of his son. I felt that with Dany and Joe too."

Jamie nodded gratefully to his father. "Thanks, Dad."

* * *

A/N: TBC Sorry this wasn't more exciting, don't have a timetable for the next update, but it will come eventually.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: A lot in this chapter. I put off school work to finish it today so please review.

* * *

The next evening Jamie and Eddie were back in the Hamptons preparing for yet another party. Eddie came out of the bathroom in a high end, dark green, mid-cut dress; this time she opted for more body coverage to minimize stares from strangers. Now pregnant, Eddie was in no mood to be gawked at by strangers that belonged to a mob circle. It was not unlike some of the regular shirts she wore when off duty but styled as a dress.

Eddie wrapped her arms around Jamie hugging his body with a smile. "You look handsome."

Jamie smiled back meeting her forehead. "You look amazing just like always."

Eddie shrugged. "I think your bar is just low for the way I dress Reagan, I could wear animal skin, and your eyes would light up along with your libido." Eddie smiled as she pressed herself into his body, proving her assumptions right. "Case in point, you know I'm starting to get concerned that being around me gives you an instant and all-night boner, that can't be healthy." She felt his erection with her hand just for good measure.

Jamie chuckled at her forwardness. "You're already feeling me up, and you are worried about my libido? He smiled sounding quizzical. "You haven't even been pregnant a month yet, and you can't get enough, your hormones will tire me out by the second trimester at this rate." She blushed, pulling her attention back to his eyes with difficulty.

Eddie's voice held anxious irritation. "I just can't help it, early or not. This pregnancy is making me feel addicted to you." She whined desperately. "Can't we just be fashionably late!" She kissed him hard hoping he would cave to her.

Jamie pulled away reluctantly, knowing someone had to stay level headed. "If I let you have your way, we won't leave. The invite is from Ricky Ortiz himself and as much as I hate to admit it, we have to start coming across as likable to this family and showing up late would not help at all."

Eddie was clearly disappointed. "Fine, but I don't know how long I can make it so we might have to sneak into a bathroom or something."

Jamie shrugged with a chuckle. "Boy Janko, how did you ever make it without me for five years."

Eddie did not beat around the bush. "A lot of late-night masturbating, especially after nights we went out after work and you didn't come home with me, or did not come out after work at all, using the grandfather excuse."

Jamie grinned playfully. "So, you suffered in silence when I was just trying to do right by you. You really do act like a typical guy you know, wanting me in your bed."

Eddie rolled her eyes sounding annoyed. "I still don't think you get how hard it was, six months was all it took for me to fall for you, and yeah I wanted you making love to me, in my bed, or your bed, or anywhere. I loved you, smart ass, even then. I have no trouble admitting that I am making up for lost time with you and I don't like things getting in my way." She sighed. "I respect you Jamie so I never crossed the line anytime we walked it, but I regret not crossing the line sooner, and not just because of my drought, but because you make me happy. It doesn't matter if we're trapped in a squad car, or we're boss and subordinate, or undercover mobsters, or I'm mad at you…I'm always happy."

Jamie smiled. "Don't worry, if we can find a window while we are there…I just don't want to forget that we have a job to do." He locked eyes with Eddie now. "Oh and I feel the same way, my sister knew I loved you before I figured it out, she told me years ago, and then again when you were shot last year." He shrugged quietly. "I'm a bit mad that it took so long for me to figure it out."

Eddie shook her head apologetically. "That's as much my fault as it is yours, so you're not alone there." She looked in the direction of his waist now, grasping the zipper of his pants anxiously. "I can't wait, I'm sorry. I need a holdover!" She unzipped the pants of his suit, very pleased when his member sprang free. She sounded grateful as she fondled it with one hand while still maintaining eye contact with Jamie sounding newly apologetic. "Just give me a minute, and promise me that you don't think less of me."

Jamie chuckled as his fiancée dropped level with his waist, sounding nonchalant. " At this point, I think it's better to tide you over than keep you waiting until you burst."

She smiled. "You knew?"

Jamie ran his hands gently through her hair sounding rhetorical. "It's not like I haven't been paying attention to the spike in your libido; actually it's more than a spike, your blatantly horny over the last two weeks." Jamie chuckled. "If your blowjobs are as fast as your driving this won't even make us late."

Eddie wore a wry smile. "Shut up Reagan."

Luckily Eddie was able to keep a lid on while she and Jamie engaged in conversation at the party. Ricky Ortiz was much friendlier than their initial meeting, and it was a bit unnerving.

He sounded way too casual for a mob leader. "Thank you for coming both of you, this invitation was a thank you for getting rid of that ill-chosen lawyer, and an opportunity to relax for once." He sighed, "I gather recent events have made things tense, particularly with Erik."

Jamie was slightly blunt. "Shooting my wife over an indirect comment was not his smartest idea."

Ricky took a sip of his scotch before responding agreeably. "I warned him not to become infatuated with a woman that is oblivious to his juvenile advances." He tilted his head apologetically. "I apologize, Ellie, my older son, is alarmingly vain, but hopefully his advances will stop now that you are pregnant."

Eddie gave a casual smile. "How did you know?"

Ricky smiled, "Easy to spot, you have not touched alcohol, you've had several helpings of food, but the biggest giveaway is the way steal glances at Jimmy, which tells me this is your first and the hormone surge started early."

Jamie nodded casually. "She's become a handful, my wife."

Ricky laughed. "Enjoy it, my friend, because there is always a chance, she could become a handful for entirely different reasons that are anything but enjoyable, kind of like my ex-wife."

A sharp critical voice entered the conversation. "Don't kid yourself, Ricky, even in our best days we were never constantly falling in love like these two are."

Ricky sounded indifferent. "Unfortunate but true. Helena, this is Jimmy Riordan and his wife, Ellie."

Helena was a tall woman with straight, waist-length black hair and piercing brown eyes. She was beautiful, in the superficial way that some women seemed to flaunt themselves, large chest, thin body with noticeable makeup, the kind of woman that Jamie was immune to by principle.

Helena's greeting was indifferent, she eyed Eddie first. "She's the one Erik shot then?"

Eddie sounded casual again. "Your oldest son has issues, getting that bent out of shape over an indirect insult, thank god Jimmy is a great medic."

Helena gave a light reply. "I think being continually outshined by Ian and Jenna has left Erik easily triggered when situations don't go his way."

Jamie was blunt. "Well, we plan on sticking around, so I hope he quits well he's behind."

Ricky leaned back casually. "I've tried to use force to make my point with him, but because I'm his father, it falls on deaf ears. You two are the first to make his stupidity really sink in, so I think he'll quiet down for once."

Another softer, female voice entered the conversation sounding skeptical. "Erik is never quiet Dad, you know that."

Ricky greeted his daughter with a general enthusiasm that Jamie and Eddie had not yet seen. "Jenna darling, where have you been? Jimmy, Ellie, this is my daughter Jenna."

If Helena Ortiz was superficial, her daughter Jenna was the exact opposite. She had hair like her mother, but that was where the similarities ended. She was about Jamie's height with her father's hazel eyes, and almost no makeup at all, her figure and demeanor seemed similar to her father, simple overall.

Jenna answered her dad casually. "I was working the bar, stopped to eat some food, but it looks like a lot of it is already gone. There isn't a whole lot of people here."

Eddie blushed with embarrassed. "That's probably my fault, I eat a lot normally, and I'm pregnant on top of it so now I can eat through an entire buffet myself."

Jenna replied indirectly. "These are the people who knocked Erik down a peg?" She smiled at them gratefully. "Thank you, his ego was annoying."

They smiled. "No problem."

She continued. "Jimmy, Ellie, since dads hiring you both maybe you can keep my idiot brother in check."

Ricky smiled. "Always spoiling things this one." He sipped his drink again. "Will you come aboard?"

Eddie sounded lightly blunt. "As long as we're doing more than babysitting your moronic son."

Jamie sounded apologetic. "You will have to forgive Ellie; she is still bitter about being shot because of your son's thin skin."

Helena sounded befuddled by her oldest son. "I don't know where we went wrong with him, I'm sorry Ellie, know that the rest of us are more level headed than Erik. I have to go, excuse me."

Ricky waved his hand dismissively as she left. "Thin skin is something Erik gets from being overshadowed by his younger siblings. Most families it's the younger ones that are problematic, not the case here." He smiled. "I plan big things for you both, but the details will be discussed another time. For now, enjoy yourselves. I feel compelled to mention that we have a private club attached to this restaurant, something tells me that you will want to celebrate." He stood up now, "do try to make a round of meet and greet beforehand, my other friends are surprisingly enjoyable." Ricky raised his glass again. "Congrats on the pregnancy."

Jenna addressed Eddie very friendly. "I can get you more food from the kitchen if you want Ellie?"

Eddie gave a genuine nod of appreciation. "That would be great thank you, just nothing with fruit in it. The baby seems to hate fruit…not craving anything yet. Even though it's early, I'm already completely out of whack." Jenna nodded and left their table.

As they observed other people, Jamie noticed two men that were all too familiar. He whispered under his breath. "Dammit, we've got two big problems."

Eddie replied with sarcasm. "What, more exes I don't know about?"

Jamie sighed tilting his head slightly in the direction he was looking. "That's Angelo Gallo, the most famous mob lawyer in New York, my dad's old friend and Lenny Ross, my dad's old partner."

Eddie nodded. "Let me guess, they know you by association?"

Jamie sighed. 'We need to get out of here and regroup."

Eddie smiled. "Looks like we will be using that private club sooner than we thought, but we're still waiting for my food." He nodded knowing better than to refuse her appetite or her hormones."

Jenna came back with hot dogs, BBQ chicken, spaghetti breadsticks, several chocolate desserts, and water."

Eddie took the food immediately. "Thank you, do you mind if we take this with us?"

She smiled. "Our private club Aces, through the back exit and directly opposite the alley my dumbass brother cornered you in…dad already made sure the staff is aware of both of you."

Eddie smiled gratefully again. "We feel bad leaving."

Jenna shrugged. "Don't, these parties are boring, and I would not be here if I were as in love with someone as both of you are with each other. I'm really sorry about Erik again, he hits on every beautiful woman he sees even if he has no chance with them and tries to impress my father in really stupid ways like shooting potential hires, he is a complete idiot, the black sheep of the family."

Eddie shrugged casually. "Thanks, we've had experience with crazed music fans so stupid is nothing we haven't seen already."

Jenna smiled again. "Between you and me nobody would bother with Erik if he was not family, Dad was really looking for permanent help to effectively replace him."

Jamie smiled casually. "Glad we could help."

Jenna stood up saying goodbye. "I'm sure I will see you again, Dad eventually likes to visit his friend's place."

Jamie nodded. "We'd be happy to have him sometime."

She left with a casual smile. "Bye Jimmy, Ellie."

After Jenna left, Jamie and Eddie noticed that both Gallo and Ross had turned in their direction. They quickly stood up and moved from their line of sight.

Eddie whispered in Jamie's ear. "I think my appetite can actually get us out of here, but I definitely want that food…the back exit is away from the cluster of people, be a waiter."

Jamie nodded reluctantly. "Why do people always pop up at the worst times."

Eddie smiled. "Because Jamie, it's a small world after all."

He shrugged. "Hungry, corny and horny, let's go Mrs. Riordan."

Jamie called his father from his burner the moment they were in a private room of the club making sure to stay quiet once he answered.

Frank's voice was measured. "If you are calling me from this number things must be extremely difficult at the moment."

Jamie scoffed frustrated. "You're what's making it difficult this time. Angelo Gallo and Lenny Ross are at this thing. You need to call them now and tell them about me."

Frank noted his son's irritation. "You'll have to give me some time to meet them in person, a day maybe."

Jamie sighed heavily. "Fine." He hung up without waiting for a reply.

Eddie pulled Jamie onto the nearby couch looking passive as she sat on his lap putting her arms around his neck. She spoke quietly. "Things just keep popping up, like the universe is taking a big interest in us. It's even screwing with my hormones."

Jamie laughed gently. "That's the easy part, it's everything else that's bothering me."

Eddie melted her lips into his neck sounding very grateful. "I appreciate that I never want you to feel like I'm just using you to scratch my itch."

Jamie smiled at her. "I never feel that way Eddie, granted the spike has taken some adjustment…I just fly free these days so I can be ready at a moment's notice."

She lingered on Jamie's neck momentarily responding gently. "Me too." She gathered herself sounding determined. "But I'm going to try and keep a lid on that to work through what's going on in that head of yours, and because it is not a good idea to skip out on this party, I mean no longer than it would take to have sex anyway."

Jamie shrugged. "It doesn't matter what is going on in my head."

Eddie locked eyes with him sounding emphatic. "Yes, it does, the world has gotten way too small for us lately." She chuckled with embarrassment. "The only reason I'm not panicking is that my sex drive is overpowering my fear thanks to the pregnancy." She sighed in a calm whisper. "I'm sure you're Dad has no stupid friends, I find it hard to believe that these people aren't smart enough to know about Jimmy Riordan."

Jamie moved one hand under Eddie's dress resting it on her not yet visible womb. He replied quietly. "I'm not risking anything for the sake of you and this baby, I'll have to pull them aside, Dad can handle the details tomorrow." He brightened somewhat suddenly getting an idea. "Erik might actually be useful for once!" Eddie smiled as she watched Jamie dial from his burner phone.

II

Jamie called Erik, asking him to pass his number to his father, and by extension Gallo and Ross, making sudden pregnancy nausea a conveniently handy excuse for why they were meeting in private. Both men agreed, under the impression that they were meeting new faces by a meet and greet.

Jamie took advantage of their surprise to greet them in cover. He sounded casual. "Jimmy Riordan and my wife Ellie, thank you for meeting us away from the party. She is pregnant and somewhere private, and quiet helps with sudden bouts of nausea."

Eddie sold the explanation by looking uncomfortable and selling awkward movements as she sat back on the couch again. Truthfully, nausea and morning sickness had been minimal so far, and she hoped that would continue, but like any pregnancy, only time would tell.

Both men showed some form of recognition immediately. Gallo was nonchalant. "Private room makes sense now."

Eddie sighed, "so does carrying this around." It was the same soundproof box that she used at the art auction.

Jamie exhaled thanks to Eddie. "I'm so glad you always think ahead."

Eddie smiled with a dismissive inflection. "Not always, I did rope you into getting me pregnant remember." She stood up as Jamie kissed her forehead while she eyed the plate of food she had not touched yet, becoming nonchalant herself. "Now, I'm going to eat while you three chat."

Gallo continued casually. "So, Jamie Reagan, who is your better half really?"

He was quick. "Eddie Janko, my fiancée and also NYPD we're deep undercover."

Gallo chuckled. "Eddie is not a name you typically hear for a girl." Gallo continued rather predictably. "I'd ask what you are both doing here, but it would just waste my time and yours."

Lenny shrugged. "I figured your Dad's invisible hand was lurking."

Eddie had a flat tone responding after a bite of a hot dog. She tilted her head slightly annoyed. "My actual name is Edit (E-deet) after my grandmother, Eddie is just easier all around."

Gallo nodded. "I can see why, Hungarian pronunciation is a bit tricky, especially this particular name."

Lenny nodded too sounding impressed. "Hungarian huh, your stubbornness must come in handy around that table then."

Eddie smiled. "Something like that."

Jamie shook his head. "Look the quick answer is we're an extension of the DEA, Dad has no part in this." Jamie continued rather bluntly. "Don't cause problems for us undercover."

Gallo was equally blunt. "Unfortunately, my job is to give council and make problems go away. I won't blow your cover, but I will need to do my job in the meantime. My friendship with your father is the only reason I am willing to stay silent, but I will certainly be rooting against you both." He smiled in a friendly manner. "I will lose a lot of money if you make the case."

Jamie shrugged. "I guess it really does pay to have friends in low places." He turned to Ross. "Why are you here Lenny?"

He was indifferent. "Your father is not the only person that I go way back with Jamie."

He was blunt. "I don't need details, but the DEA won't like that they had a direct path to Ricky Ortiz long before turning this into a major operation."

Lenny sighed. "I'm not helping the feds."

Jamie crossed his arms. "You're going to help us because you wore NYPD blue once and that means doing the right thing."

Lenny chuckled. "I will stay out of your way, but you two are on your own with whatever you're doing, I'm not getting in the middle of this. Ricky is a long-time friend, heavy drugs or not you have to bust him yourself."

Jamie shrugged throwing up his arms. "Find just stay out of our way, both of you."

They nodded. Gallo made a blunt observation. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, you and your father are very alike."

Lenny piggybacked that sentiment with a smile. "Uncanny."

Eddie spoke up having been quietly eating the whole time. She was wistful. "Good, my side of the family is not anything to pass to kids, so I'd rather our kid turn out like his you and his grandparents anyway." She grinned.

Jamie sighed with a smile looking at Eddie with a dismissive expression. "Last time I checked DNA is fifty-fifty so don't sell yourself short your 24 chromosomes matter too." He turned to Gallo and Lenny with a passive expression. "Remember, Jimmy and Ellie Riordan." They nodded again and left the room.

Eddie sounded casual. "Talk about friends in low and high places."

Jamie nodded wrapping his arms around Eddie's back and looking at her with a sigh. "Dad always said it was good to have both. Let's get back out there."

Eddie shook her head in protest. "I brought that soundproof box for my own benefit you know."

Jamie had a blunt look as he chuckled lightly. "What am I going to do with you, Janko?"

Eddie tilted her head apologetically. "I'm sorry but that quickie before we left only held me over for so long, and I can't fight it anymore." She kissed him hard as a form of enticement.

He smiled as they broke the kiss, "I guess we can spare a little while since we're already in here anyway." He made sure to lock the door before returning to the kiss and lifting Eddie into his arms.

III

A little while turned out to be almost an hour later, Eddie seemed to have quelled from the extra time and was focused and content again. The party had thinned out somewhat by the time they returned. All that remained were Ricky, his kids and the rest of his staff, Lenny was gone. Jamie was thankful that his father's old partner was not one of them and Ricky was just a friend in a low place. Obviously, Gallo was, along with a few other people they had yet to formally meet. A shorter, white, partially balding man whose face looked aged quite a bit and two towering bulked up black men they recognized as security guards having been "held" by them at the warehouse two weeks earlier. All parties were now in the back room of the restaurant which was set up like a large roundtable.

Ricky spoke to the room casually. "Family knows I've brought two new people into the fold, but for those that don't I think public introductions are in order, Jimmy Riordan and his wife Ellie, they will be doing quite a bit for me." He continued. "That old timer is Mickey Santana, he handles all the monetary stuff concerning our activities, those two that look identical are bodyguards and security, Bruce and Wayne."

Jamie chuckled, "Were your parent's fans of Batman or something?"

They shrugged. "Look at us, what else would fit." Jamie tilted his head in agreement."

Ricky continued. "Yes, very amusing, now I believe you met Angelo Gallo earlier? He is our replacement legal advisor after Davenport did not work out."

Gallo chuckled, "You were always cheap Ricky, and then you make these people clean up your mess, I've told you cheap legal help never ends well."

Eddie shrugged sounding nonchalant. "It did for me, I got to kill Jimmy's ex."

Gallo chuckled again. "If you're not afraid to kill then no wonder Ricky hired you."

Jamie clarified putting his arm around Eddie looking across the table at Erik, who seemed intimidated by the stare. His voice was not Jamie like at all and had a hard edge. "We don't have patience when other people cause problems, it makes Us unpleasant."

Ricky nodded with a gauging expression. "Something Erik learned the hard way, which is why I am removing him from fieldwork effective immediately, Jimmy, Ellie you will replace him, and Mrs. Riordan when your pregnancy becomes a physical issue we will, of course, adjust accordingly."

Erik was not pleased. "You are replacing me with two people? People just brought in, you can't be serious?"

Ricky was indifferent. "I am, I have been looking for your replacement for quite some time. You are too nonchalant when you have no business acting as such, took quick-tempered. It is very unprofessional and bothersome."

Erik laughed. "You really think they can break bad?"

Ricky was blunt. "I will find out, but their edge leaves me plenty confident."

Jamie was casual. "What is the first thing you want us to do?"

Ricky leaned forward with a blunt inflection. "The latest notable gangs in the city make their own drugs, you're going to hijack the next set of major shipments around the city." He slid a paper over to Jamie and Eddie. "The shipments are scheduled for six months from now, in the summer when the weather will not be a factor in what is supposed to be drop-offs."

Jamie showed sounded casual. "Makes sense moving drugs in the dead of winter or spring would be a bigger headache for gangs. Still, that's not what I was expecting."

Ricky smiled. "You thought that you would be called upon daily. Jimmy, we are much more practical than that and always wait for key opportunities to help ourselves to the product. Now, there may be killed at various times, but the reason we stay successful is that we are smart about how we operate and don't draw attention to ourselves."

Eddie nodded turning attention elsewhere. "So, what happens in the meantime?"

Ricky continued. "We have a large frequency of exports coming between now and then, I would like you to handle them by meeting the buyers. You will be supplied with locations when they get in touch with me. You will need to make this priority no matter what you are doing at the time I give you the information. I suggest that you stay ready to go come nightfall, that is when I insist these meets happen with buyers. Only morons handle illegal activities in broad daylight."

Jamie nodded agreeably. "Have I mentioned how much I like that you are smarter than the Sanfino family."

Ricky chuckled. "I'm sorry you got mixed up with them Jimmy, ignorance beyond even Erik that family."

Erik was sarcastic. "Gee thanks, dad."

Eddie looked at Jamie sympathetically. "I'm sorry I didn't know you then lamb chop."

Jenna swooned. "Dad, why weren't you and mom ever like Jimmy and Ellie, they put you to shame."

Ricky addressed his daughter lightly. "We were at one point or another, but it takes more than love to stay together. Willing to admit when you don't see eye to eye is almost more important than showing affection, and we never talked honestly enough."

Eddie smiled casually. "Jimmy and I disagree regularly, we like it that way. It keeps us on our toes, but it's rare we have a really big fight. Recently, when I took a sketchy security job but other than that…the early days of when we met are about it."

Jamie nodded in agreement. "Even that was only because the jackass that came with that job was reckless." He shrugged. "I did fight over her once in public and put my foot in my mouth when we were planning the wedding." He continued rhetorically. "Advice for both your sons if either of them is lucky enough to ever to find a woman, don't call the wedding a waste of money, ever."

Ricky was surprised. "The post of striking it rich is to be able to treat yourself."

Jamie shrugged casually. "I like to stay practical, rich or not and considering how things turned out money wise. I'm glad we kept it simple."

Eddie nodded sounding reflective. "I knew what he was really trying to say, it just came out so badly. I give Jimmy a hard time but he always fixes things, we always talk."

Jenna looked at Eddie. "Can I have your number, Ellie?"

Eddie was surprised. "Sure, but I'm not usually available during the day because we're working security in the city. Even have a place there too." She continued. "Sir, forgive me, but I'm surprised that Jenna is aware of your wider activities."

Ricky nodded with a noting expression. "That is the general reaction, none of my children were aware until they turned 18, but I don't believe in shielding adults. Helena did put up a larger protest with Jenna but as I'm sure you've seen she is quite mature, though I do draw the line at any direct participation on her part."

Jenna shrugged with a blunt response. "That isn't sexism at all."

Ricky shook his head. "No, it isn't, it is nepotism, you are my only daughter, and this is only supposed to be your last resort."

Jenna nodded with a shrug. "I've heard that since I turned 18."

Ricky looked at her seriously. "It's a good thing you remember." He shifted wrapping things up with a general tone. "That's all for the time being. Jimmy, Ellie, as I said, I will contact you when buyers in question inform me they are ready to meet, but it varies. I am hoping this will occupy you enough until the bigger date arrives."

Jamie nodded. "Whatever you need, we do our job and do it well."

Eddie sounded casual looking at Erik. "Don't worry, we won't screw up, we take things seriously."

Ricky smiled, glad to hear it."

Jamie looked at Gallo sounding friendly. "Mind if I pick your brain about law back at our house? I'm interested in the dark side of being a lawyer."

Gallo shrugged. "Sure, give me the address, Ricky care to join us?"

He shook his head. "Not tonight, I have personal things to deal with, but sometime soon I will definitely see the home you both are trying to keep."

Eddie gave a friendly smile. "Anytime, something tells us working for you will be beneficial."

Ricky nodded agreeably. "The feeling is mutual."

IV

Back at their undercover house, Jamie and Eddie were meeting with Gallo again, this time with the added benefit of complete transparency

Gallo took a seat looking around with a somewhat judgmental expression. "Working on the government's dime must be nice."

The living room was extremely fancy. Large enough to fit in both of the apartment living rooms, and more end to end space more size than either of them had been used to living with. Furniture was a combination of leather seating and glass tables, all of which overlooked a large fireplace.

Jamie shrugged. "Is what it is, we're playing the role."

Gallo sighed. "Piece of advice, the mob is not a role it's life if you want to survive you will need to get your hands dirty and be okay with it. What are you doing?"

Jamie sighed. "Dad will fill you in tomorrow, but it has international implications. You will want to keep connections on speed dial just in case you have to detach yourself from this at some point…you won't want to be guilty by association when we make the case."

Gallo corrected him cooly. "If…a crime that has international networks won't go down easily…"

Eddie was thinking intently now. "The daughter Jenna, she's it, if I can gain her trust, then this will be over quickly."

Gallo sounded impressed but skeptical. "Quick solution, difficult implementation, but it will test if you are anything like the Reagan's when they have to get there hands dirty, something like mental fortitude."

Eddie was blunt. "You know I can't decide if I like you or not."

Gallo laughed. "That's a recurring theme in my world, just know that getting through to Jenna will take work."

Eddie nodded. Jamie continued. "What do you know about the batch of shipments in three months."

Gallo leaned forward. "I only know about the gang leaders responsible for shipping the drugs around the city, Miles Cain and Jake Singer…"

Eddie blurted forcibly. "The second one, how did he get out of Jail?"

Gallo was indifferent. "I'm a good lawyer, is there something I should know?"

Eddie was blunt. "He assaulted me! How Long has he been out?"

Gallo recalled vaguely. "I have no idea, I just know he escaped and fell into the underground of criminal activity where we eventually crossed paths."

Jamie was quickly angry. "How does someone escape a multi-offender prison."

Gallo sighed. If there is one thing that I have learned it's that someone consumed with getting out will find a way to escape, you two will want to stay level headed, running into hated enemies is a regular occurrence in the mob world. I'm just sorry I don't have specifics as to how this man that you both clearly know escaped. It takes a great deal of time to even identify the people surrounding various mob operations, and I have several families and individuals as clients."

Eddie sighed. "At least we have a heads up on Singer."

Jamie nodded with an edge to his voice. "I would have killed that creep on the spot without your inadvertent heads up here."

Gallo was surprised. "Here I thought that the Reagan's didn't have that in them."

Eddie grabbed Jamie's hand sounding subdued. "Not sure about the rest of the Reagan's but I've learned that Jamie's line begins and ends with me, it took some adjustment to accept that."

Gallo nodded sounding passive. "Hate might be safer than love, but love is far more potent an emotion. I only need to look at you both to know there is no line you won't cross for each other." He pulled a card from his pocket sounding measured. "If you find yourself in a tight spot within the cover, friends in low places helps."

Jamie nodded. "Thank you." Gallo stood up and bid farewell with a tilt of his head.

Afterward, Eddie sighed, hugging herself to Jamie's body.

She sounded exhausted and not from being undercover. Her voice was low. "I'm scared Jamie."

He squeezed her gently. "We're going to be fine Eddie. I will bench you if the pregnancy makes things too difficult."

She shook her head staring absentmindedly. "No not about the assignment." She shook somewhat. "He's back, he escaped…why hasn't he come after me and what if he blows my cover when we go after the shipments, in three months?" The words came out with a slight break in them.

Jamie locked eyes with Eddie, he touched her face with one finger wiping the mist off her eyes. He sounded like a human shield. "Hey, I won't let him anywhere near you, I promise."

Eddie smiled sounding practical. "You can't always protect me."

Jamie was dismissive. "I will do whatever I have to keep you safe. I can't be the guy that just stands by and does nothing when the world hurts you."

Eddie hugged tighter to him sounding emphatic. "I tried to fight it at first, but I love that you're my knight in shining armor. It's the biggest reason I love you because of how much you love me, it scares me but there is no one else in my life that would do anything and everything for me, that's why I fell in love with you."

Jamie nodded kissing the top of her head. "I will never stop being that guy, so I hope you will always understand and live with that."

Eddie grew a light expression now. "I guess if I have to."

Jamie looked her lovingly in the eyes. "Good."

Eddie continued suggestively. "You know, we haven't checked out the master bedroom of this place yet or the bathroom, let's stay here tonight. Be a couple for a change. We don't do that very much, and it might be our last chance before this assignment kicks into high gear." She smiled. "I would hate to think we never put such a high-end house to some use."

Jamie smiled with interest. "What'd you have in mind?"

Eddie grinned. "Let's go to bed, I'm sure that bed is more comfortable than either of the ones in our apartments."

Jamie chuckled. "That sounds great, after you Mrs. Riordan."

With a smile, Eddie got up and took Jamie by the hand and led him upstairs to the master bathroom.

V

Jamie and Eddie's day jobs as Frank's primary aid and members of his protective detail was predictably boring. Naturally, they took boring every day because if the PC was in danger, it meant that it affected the entire NYPD and thus the city itself. Eddie was 12 weeks along before they dealt with anything notable in their day jobs.

Eddie was quizzical as they drove in Frank's car. "What's going on? I was less nervous during our first drug meet undercover two weeks ago."

Frank responded bluntly. "First of all, I should not hear about anything that happens while you are undercover, it was enough for me to have to fill in Angelo and Lenny. Second, not until we get to where we are going."

Jamie credited his father. "Thanks for the assist with those two, by the way, would have been a mouthful for us to explain everything."

Frank continued. "It's not every day that you find out that your former NYPD partner is friends with the head of the biggest crime family in the state of New York."

Jamie pressed. "Did Lenny say how that started?"

Frank shifted focus. "Later, right now we're here, follow me…" Frank said nothing more until they were sitting at the conference table in an underground bunker. He spoke calmly handing them security badges. "Welcome to Bravo Bunker, beat a new record getting here, just over 10 minutes, of course, I told them to step on it because I have family in my detail for right now."

Jamie crossed his arms sounding rhetorical. "A test?"

Frank gave a confirming nod. "You had to be looped in just in case, this place was created post 9/11 so that PC and his closest staff would have a safe place to go when there is nowhere else to go, following catastrophic events namely terrorist threats but biohazard disasters or disease outbreaks also qualify."

Eddie nodded "So if we have to come here…"

Frank was unquestionably blunt. "Things have gone terribly wrong. Everything and anything is here to make this place livable short of cell service and wi-fi. Now let me show you the kitchens and where you will sleep…pray you never have to use them."

Eventually, Jamie and Eddie were back at the conference table. He turned his attention back to Lenny's connection to Ricky.

Frank sighed with a surprised expression. "I guess Lenny and Ricky have known each other since they were 13, but he went one way, and Ricky went the other. Lenny is not a member, but I got the feeling if Ricky needed a favor Lenny would do it."

Jamie pulled out Gallo's card sounding flat and indifferent. "Friends in low places."

Frank nodded. "Low or high depends on the perspective of the person."

Eddie sighed. "Frank, my father can you get him released for the wedding, even temporarily? I know you don't grant favors for the family but …"

He looked at her sadly. "I cannot get him released, he committed federal fraud, and I don't have pull with the feds, they find me annoying."

Eddie was downcast. "Oh okay…"

He sighed. "I'm sorry, this is one string I would gladly pull if I could. How much time is left on his sentence?"

She was quiet. " about 18 months…"

Jamie offered a solution. "We could just postpone the wedding."

Eddie was dismissive as she met Jamie's forehead. "No, I've waited a minimum of two years and a max of five years to be your wife, and I am not putting off our wedding for anything." She looked at Frank seriously. "Care to sub in Commissioner?"

Frank smiled. "I would be honored."

Eddie smiled dropping the formality. "Thanks, Dad."

VI

That Friday Eddie had a very early doctors appointment. Top on Eddie's list was finding out why she had gained over 30 pounds in the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy, she figured that had to be abnormal. Even Jamie, who initially assumed that the extra weight was because she ate everything that was edible these days, was starting to get concerned. The doctor noticed Eddie's weight and womb carefully when he greeted them both. "Well, weight gain is normal during pregnancy, but you do seem to have gained quite a bit more in the first trimester than is typical." He continued without any inflection. "You're showing much more than is typical at 12 weeks too."

Eddie looked at her already protruding stomach sounding somewhat embarrassed. "I have been eating a lot, and I ate quite a bit before he did this to me."

The doctor smiled. "I don't think your appetite for the culprit here. Let's take a look at what's going on in there."

After setting up the ultrasound machine, the doctor addressed them in surprise. "Well, that explains a lot."

Eddie and Jamie responded nervously. "What?"

He continued. "Here, I think it will make sense if you listen because looking can be a bit confusing."

A few moments later they heard a distinct noisy echo fill the room. Jamie shrugged. "All I hear is a noisy baby, which isn't surprising considering who mom is, that's good right?"

He nodded and continued turning the monitor towards the both of them. "The noise is louder than normal because there are three heartbeats."

Eddie blinked several times looking flustered. "You are having triplets, Eddie. That explains why your pregnancy has been atypical. I noticed that you're morning sickness has been at a minimum, count yourself lucky, those babies must be really happy in there. Do you want to know what you're having?" They both nodded. He smiled. "They are girls!" He noted their flustered expressions. "I'll give you both some privacy. They are healthy, so unless you are having trouble as the pregnancy advances you should only need to come back once per trimester just to make sure everything continues to go smoothly; otherwise, I will see you on the big day." He left shuttling the door behind him.

Jamie smiled at Eddie. "Looks like family dinners will be a lot more crowded."

Eddie grinned back. "Yeah, who knew you would be this good at making babies Reagan."

Jamie nodded and then his face fell. "Where are we going to put them all, we can't fit three babies in our tiny apartments, and I don't want to move to the house in the Hamptons."

Eddie's face fell too. "How am I going to fit in my dress, if we don't get married until May, it's a good thing I didn't spend all that money on the sweetheart neckline dress."

Jamie nodded agreeably. "Now I'm really glad we are not going overboard on the wedding. We have a lot to figure out before our daughters arrive."

Eddie smiled meeting his forehead as she placed a hand over her stomach. "Still I'm happy, we're going to have triplets!"

Jamie met her hand. "Me too, my family has enough boys."

They kissed for several minutes knowing that their lives had changed drastically, for the better.

VII

Working as Frank's detail was important today because he was going to a meet in the most dangerous of the slums in the city to inform them that the trial period on Governor Mendez' crime bill was over; the crowd was unruly. Jamie and Eddie were flanking Frank on both sides.

Frank spoke over them quickly. "Three months of raw numbers say that releasing lesser offenders back on the street does not discourage them from committing crimes again, so the experiment with this crime bill is over. Even the governor agreed." There were shouts of conspiracy and disregard for the slums in the city. Someone pulled a gun and fired at Frank. Jamie took a bullet meant for Frank. It penetrated his skin in the center of his chest, the bullet went through his vest like butter and Jamie hit the ground of the stage awkwardly, feeling like a ton of bricks.

Eddie responded frantically as other members of the detail returned fire while crowd scattered. "Shots fired at the PC; 10-13, I repeat 10-13 officer down taking fire meant for the PC. Need a bus to the heart of Hell's Kitchen slums and put a rush on it!" The rest of the detail took out the perp while Eddie stayed with Frank whisking him away from the crowd until his driver got him back in his vehicle. PC is safe and no longer on-site, but I need a rush on that damn bus!"

Jamie wheezed weakly on the ground as Eddie worked to control the bleeding. "Is the PC secure?"

Eddie nodded tears streaming down her face. "He's fine, and you will be too, just stay awake."

He was looking in every direction fighting the shock of his wound. "Doing my best."

Medics arrived moments later just as Jamie fell unconscious. Eddie's voice was a terrified sob as she road with Jamie in the ambulance to St. Victors hospital.

She sounded quiet. "Don't you die on me Jameson Reagan, you here me." She placed a hand on her stomach. "Your father is going to be fine, girls he's going to be just fine."

VIII

Jamie needed surgery because the bullet had lodged itself near several key blood vessels and other muscle tissue, though thankfully it missed vital organs. It collapsed his left lung, it was this combined with blood loss that led to him falling unconscious and even after a successful surgery he remained in a light Coma, not dangerous enough to affect major brain functions but nonetheless terrifying for everyone in the family, none more so than Eddie.

Danny and Erin had been working cases when they got the call, dumping them off on their partners, both of whom took them over completely without hesitation. They informed their kids, on the way to St. Victors, Nicky drove Sean and Henry, while Jack drove in after that day's classes were over, getting an absence from college. Since he was the one shot at Frank couldn't immediately come to the hospital, Baker returned without hesitation as his primary aid so that Eddie could stay with Jamie at the hospital and Garret and Sid worked to keep details quiet to keep Jamie's cover intact. Eddie did nothing but sit at Jamie's bedside from the moment he was brought into the recovery room.

Eddie sounded momentarily like herself as she held Jamie's hand looking stern. "I told our daughters you are going to be fine, don't you make me a liar Jameson Reagan." She squeezed his hand turning anxious. "Come on Jamie wake up, if you die I die too and that means five people die." She smiled weakly. "Okay, I know what you're thinking; 'wow Eddie it's pretty low of you to guilt me into waking up, you can do this by yourself.' I can't Jamie, I cannot raise three daughters by myself…I cannot lose my partner, my lover, my best friend." She sobbed quietly as she continued. "You're still the best person I have ever met, and our daughters have to know you, so you wake up dammit. Wake up so you can call me shorty, and Girl Scout and make fun of my driving and my appetite and…" she laughed wryly. "…how fat. I'm going to get carrying your daughters for 9 months.". She continued calmly. "I want to name one of them after you. We call you Jamie, and that traditionally is a girls name so…Jamie Rose Reagan, what do you think?" The monitor beeped twice in quick succession, Eddie answered him with a smile. "We can call her Rose if you want, to avoid confusion." The machine beeped once. She answered again, dropping her arm on his bed sounding emphatic. "Because I want one of our daughters to legally share your informal name." The machine beeped again, and she continued. "I'm glad you are okay with it." The machine beeped twice with a pause between them. She sighed looking at his closed eyes wishing that they would open. Eddie rested her head on his bed sounding wishfully upbeat. "Now you just have to wake up. She felt herself cry quietly again. "Come on Jamie, wake up so I can yell at you for driving me crazy like you always do…" There was no response from the machine this time. She kissed his forehead sounded emotional. "That's okay, this time I'm not going anywhere."

Soon other members of the family came into his recovery room. Erin was first, she spoke gently. "How are you doing?"

Eddie sighed. "I'm fine."

Erin smiled. "You don't have to lie." She continued at Eddie's raised eyebrows. "I was over emotional when Jack was shot and needed surgery, and I can't say I ever loved him as much as you love my brother and he loves you. When you were shot on that call, Jamie said he felt guilty for feeling grateful that Dunleavy died and you didn't. Trust me, as long as Jamie is alive, he will wake up eventually. I think he's just visiting everyone else right now."

Eddie smiled at the thought. "Thank you. Erin nodded and left.

The kids were next, they were visibly crestfallen at the sight of their uncle in a coma.

They hugged Eddie sounding jarred. "Uncle Jamie…"

Eddie tried to simplify things. "He's alive, he's just sleeping right now, undercover work is tiring."

They were dismissive. Nicky spoke quietly. "We know what you are trying to do, but you don't have to really. We grew up with this as a frequent thing, even got used hearing likely or not likely, we are more concerned about you."

Jack sounded a bit too much like someone who had been around life and death situations. "Yeah, we're experts by now."

Sean sounded forcibly blunt. "He'll be fine, at least he made it to a hospital. Joe and Mom were left to die alone."

Jack recognized his brother's distress. "Let's go, Shawn."

Eddie sighed concerned. "Is Sean okay?"

Nicky was subdued. "He was much closer with Aunt Linda than Jack, and I still don't think he's coped with her death…Uncle Jamie is the next person he's closest to…he called you even before he called his Dad. I think he is just closer to laid back people."

Eddie chuckled. "Are you sure that's me, most people who don't like me. Think I'm pushy, intrusive and opinionated."

Nicky chuckled. "If it helps, everyone in this family has some or all of those qualities, so you fit right in, it was inevitable you and my Uncle Jamie, and between us, you are way better than Sydney."

Eddie smiled. "Thank you." Nicky smiled back and left.

Danny was the last to come in, he sounded flat. "So we figured out how the bullet went through his vest so easily." Eddie raised her eyebrows signaling it was okay to continue. "It was military-grade armor-piercing ammo."

Eddie gave an outrageous whisper. "Armor-piercing, what kind of animal who fought for our country would turn around and shoot the PC of New York City?"

Danny sat down with a sigh. "Someone fed up the state of our union and targeting someone that they can actually reach. I am just glad this son of a bitch is already dead."

Eddie sighed. "How am I supposed to just sit and wait for him to wake up Danny?"

He sighed recalling similar feelings from six years earlier with his younger son. "I get it too, believe me. When Shawn was around 12, he and the kids were sightseeing around the city with Erin. Anyway, some jerk cut him off as he was riding his bike and he slammed his head against the cement. He had a helmet, but the impact caused swelling in his brain, and he was in a coma for two or three days."

Eddie was blunt. "Danny, if he doesn't wake up…"

Danny leaned forward tempering her. "Hey, I've been right where you are, and as cliché, as it sounds, it really doesn't do any good to think that way. Believe me, you'll just drive yourself crazy."

Eddie sighed deeply. "That's supposed to be Jamie's job. I see you, wounded without Linda, and I couldn't make it through without your brother. I know I couldn't, and I don't know if that makes me weak or dependent or both."

Danny sighed. "It makes you a far better spouse than I could have ever been. I loved Linda, I did. But since she died, I've realized that I kept her at arm's length using our different jobs as an excuse and I didn't treat her like a partner enough. That eats at me every single day." He gave a consoling look. "That's where you have a big leg up on me and why moments like these affect you, and him, so much more than the rest of the family. You embrace them when the rest of us run from it."

Eddie smiled. "So Frank and Henry?"

Danny stood up again. "They won't see the kid until his eyes open. They carry every family death with them even more than the rest of us, pops just keeps pacing around the waiting room and Dad, well it's just easier for him to throw himself in the job, let us know if anything changes."

Eddie nodded. "I will, thanks, Danny."

Danny smiled. "Don't mention it." He left shutting the door behind him.

Eddie stroked Jamie's head whispering quietly. "Come on Jamie, you've made me crazy enough for a lifetime playing hero like this, now open your eyes."

The machine beeped once at the end of her sentence, but Jamie's eyes stayed closed. She sobbed silently on at his bedside and stayed there all night.

IX

The sun was blinding as it shined through the hospital window that was right by Jamie's bed. His eyes squinted open, and he looked down to find Eddie's engaged hand locked in his own, she was asleep in her chair with her head resting on the only free space that existed in his bed. Jamie's chest felt heavy and awkward, but then he knew that was to be expected because he was shot clean through a vest. He tried to shift his weight and found that it caused too much pain, making it clear how lucky he was to be alive.

Jamie's groans of pain awoke Eddie abruptly. She sat carefully on his bed sounding forcibly emotional. "Jameson Reagan, you scared us to death!" She carefully linked herself to his body, in controlled sobs.

Jamie's voice was weak but consoling. "I'm okay Eddie."

She sobbed anxiously. "That was NOT the way to make me crazy, playing hero like that!"

Jamie sighed with awkward breaths. "I was doing my job."

Eddie shook her head dismissively. "I don't care if we are protecting the pope, you don't jump in front of a bullet and risk leaving me to raise three daughters by myself!" Jamie knew she was venting so he did nothing except squeeze her gently.

A calm voice entered the room, Frank was standing there with a small smile looking tired and worn. "That wouldn't be good, this family is not used to raising girls. We have only had four over the last three generations." Frank looked at his youngest son with a measured expression. "How are you feeling son?"

Jamie's inflection was rhetorical. "Like I took a bullet clean through my chest."

Eddie looked at Frank apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that, it's just…"

Frank was dismissive. "You have to think of your family, which I heard will be triple what you thought."

Eddie sighed. "Frank we cannot afford a house big enough for three kids. When they are born can we move in, just until we have the money?"

Frank smiled again. "We'd be happy to have you." He nodded to them both and left.

Alone now, Jamie shook his head. "We will be fine."

Eddie looked at him rhetorically. "You always think practically, it's practical to do this, plus Henry gets to be around his great-grandchildren."

Jamie sighed nodding. "Alright, once they're born and just until we saved enough money for a five-bedroom house."

Eddie corrected him with a smile. "Seven bedrooms, I would like to have boys at some point."

Jamie smiled. "One thing at a time, I don't think I'm in condition to start thinking about more kids when the ones we have aren't even here yet." He finished dryly in a low voice. "An overzealous lunatic shot me, we have that in common now."

Eddie burst into tears, responding anxiously. "I would give anything not to have this in common."

Jamie offered levity. "Eddie Janko you're a bigger mess than me, and I just woke up from a coma."

Eddie slapped him on the shoulder. "So not funny Jamie, you're such a jerk for almost dying!" She cried even more.

He sighed holding her gently in his arms again. "Years ago I told you I wasn't going anywhere, and I meant it."

Eddie whispered quietly. "Are you okay if I squeeze you for a minute?"

Jamie whispered back just as quietly. "I survived a bullet clean through my chest, I think you can hug me for a little while."

Eddie wrapped herself completely into Jamie's body and laid her head on him like she had so many times before but closer to his waist since the bullet penetrated his upper chest. They both fell asleep within minutes.

X

Jamie was kept in the hospital all weekend to make sure that he was stable, and, on the mend, Eddie never left his side. The rest of the family rotated in and out of his room regularly. Sunday evening, he was finally discharged, and they came home.

Jamie sounded dismissive. "Eddie this was so unnecessary, I am fine." They'd just gone through the door to his apartment.

Eddie was blunt. "I let you jog down three flights of stairs and to the car on surgically repaired ribs and a re-inflated lung, that's more than I should have done.

Eddie was effortlessly carrying him, apparently watching him steadily tire down three flights of stairs and to the car left her insisting on it, which was ironic considering she was pregnant, the adrenaline from seeing him tire so quickly had clearly taken over.

Jamie was irritated as she set him down in the bathroom. "Eddie, I'm fine, really, don't you think you're going overboard?"

Eddie rolled her eyes sounding annoyed. "The doctors said no extraneous activity for a week Jamie, yet the moment the nurses left you were jogging down three flights of stairs like a marathon man."

He shrugged. "okay maybe that was going overboard, but I think I can shower myself."

Eddie put her arms around him looking into his eyes with a melancholy expression. "Please don't fight me on helping you function for a while." Her voice became a pained whisper. "You were in a coma for nearly a day." She felt tears again. "Watching you hover on the edge of death, I felt like I was the one with the punctured lung."

Jamie held her arms wiping tears from her eyes, his infection was tender. "Okay, don't cry, I won't put up a fight for a while, and haven't you learned by now I'm not going anywhere."

Eddie smiled. "Good, now seriously, how do you feel?"

Jamie sighed heavily. "My chest hurts a lot still, and it is painful when I bend in certain directions. Even breathing doesn't feel quite the same." Eddie took off his shirt looking squarely at the vertical and horizontal scars from his surgery in the center of his chest. She ran one hand gently over them.

Her voice was gentle. "The surgeon said that quite a bit of your muscle tissue was compromised when the bullet penetrated your chest. You lost a lot of blood too. They said you were lucky the bullet didn't keep going and compromise your spine after it broke through the left set of ribs and punctured your left lung or you'd be paraplegic, he called it a thick-skinned miracle that you aren't. "

Jamie held her hand tightly. "I would have understood you know, if I had been and you wanted to break off things, that isn't what you signed up for."

Eddie shook her head with a dismissive expression and a blunt inflection. "I signed up to be your wife whether you can walk or not and I thank god you still can but I even if you couldn't I would be your legs, and whatever else you needed." She held his face so happy she could look into his green eyes again. "Not even that would stop me from being with you." She smiled. "Now let's get cleaned up, and then we can sleep in our bed; we both need a shower, and it's been a long weekend." Eddie tempered the amused look on his face. "I know where your mind is going Reagan, this is not an excuse for kinky shower sex. Besides, that would count as extraneous activity, and I don't need you falling back into a coma, not knowing if you would wake up was the worst feeling of my life."

Jamie nodded obediently wearing a small smile as he stroked Eddie's hair." "Okay, and thank you." Eddie tilted her head looking at him with a loving stare. "I always have your back, always." She moved to turn on the water and shut the door before removing all their clothes and pulling her fiancé into the shower with her.

XI

There joint showering was much more relaxing than it was erotic, which neither of them minded as the shooting had left Jamie exhausted and Eddie in no mood to have sex. For the most part, Jamie was able to shower and dress, though he noticed that stretching and bending really were painful at times. He supposed it was because his chest was weaker than before and hypersensitive to the rest of his body's movements, but it was nonetheless annoying. He made sure to inform Erik that he was shot working security though he passed it off as a stalker gone crazy, Erik seemed sympathetic but glad that his father might still need him in an active role. After he hung up, they climbed into bed in PJs for the first time in forever. After a minute Jamie turned to Eddie and started laughing quietly. It staggered somewhat making it likely that his lungs were still adjusting to the trauma.

Eddie watches him carefully. "What's so funny that it's got you winded?"

Jamie shrugged sounding full of irony now. "We are undercover as mobsters, but it's our day job that nearly killed me. "He looked at her smiling widely. "I told dad he should stop scheduling those neighborhood Q/A's because people always seem to shoot instead of asking questions."

Eddie chuckled lightly. "That's not so much funny as it is sad and an indictment on society today, makes me nervous about raising daughters in this era."

He nodded. "I'm okay with it, by the way, Jamie Rose Reagan, it fits perfectly."

Eddie snuggled in close with a smile. "You really heard me talking to you."

Jamie hugged her tightly sounding quietly reflective in response. "I saw them Eddie, all three of our daughters when I was in my coma."

Eddie sounded emotionally captivated by his revelation. She looked stunned. "You saw them all, so that's why it took you so long to wake up."

Jamie was emotionally mesmerized himself now. "Mom brought them to me, they were beautiful little girls and looked just like you from the dirty blonde hair to the blue eyes, every last detail of our daughters is you."

Eddie asked curiously. "Did you get a name for the third?"

Jamie nodded. "Sarah Marie Reagan."

Eddie sounded swooned by the name. "I love it."

He smiled holding her around the back. "You do, I was worried you'd think it was too weird to use a name I heard while having a comatose vision."

Eddie shook her head emphatically. "I might not be Roman Catholic but I'm still under the umbrella of Christianity, it's not weird." She put her hand on her stomach sounding cheerful for the first time in three days. "Mary, Jamie, and Sarah; that's perfect…" She smiled. "So, they are like me?"

Jamie nodded smiling back. "Yeah I'm sorry for the spoiler, but I think I willed it through sheer force of thought." He locked eyes with her. "All I've wanted since I fell in love with you is a daughter like you, and now I'm getting three…I really am spoiled for life." He joined his hand with Eddie's over her stomach. They felt a substantial sudden burst of movement.

Jamie was gleefully confused. "Whoa did you feel that? I thought they were not supposed to start kicking for at least another month?"

Eddie grinned beside herself. "I did, and they aren't." She dropped her head against his chest getting emotional again. "I think they are just happy you're okay, and I am too." Eddie suddenly burst into tears of joyful relief.

Jamie held her until they both fell asleep, it took them both quite a while still coping with the irony that they had both been shot by someone with a short fuse, but grateful that they could cope with it together.

* * *

A/N: TBC

Semester always makes updates indefinite, I should not have even put off my school work to finish this update but a lot of stories had twins so I figured I would just add one more. The shooting is a parallel of when Mayor Poole was shot, I knew I was going to have Jamie get shot too, it's admittedly something I would like to see in the show for the emotional weight alone.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I got this done in between school and playing kingdom hearts 3, yes, I'm a big gamer (also writing a story for that series currently) I can't wait until the semester is over, there is so little time to do what I want.

Anyway, sexual content—the last scene—this time. Things are relatively short if you end before that, but as always, I leave such content optional to my readers, so as not to have to restrain myself because the show already does that on this particular front.

Reviews are welcome.

* * *

Everyone agreed to postpone family dinner because Jamie was not able to be present and doing it on location as they had years ago during pops heart attack was not private. Jamie was favoring his left side quite a bit and much to his annoyance his body was not healing as fast as he'd hoped. Getting dressed was a chore particularly from the waist down because every time he bent over his chest felt like a bowling bowl and it became quickly apparent that his body would mend on its own schedule and not anytime sooner.

A thud caused Eddie to come running out of the bathroom anxiously. "Jamie are you okay!"

Jamie groaned from the floor trying to stand again. "I'm fine, just got a bit dizzy and fell."

Eddie helped him onto the bed and then picked up his remaining clothes sounding concerned. "'don't worry Eddie I can finish getting dressed by myself.' She dropped to her knees to help him finish getting dressed, her expression was disapproving. "How did that work out for you?"

Jamie looked at her similarly. "You shouldn't be dropping to your knees while carrying triplets, it's not good for you or them."

Eddie gave a half smile. "Neither is hearing you crash to the floor, at least this doesn't send my heart into my chest."

He nodded looking at her absentmindedly. "Good point."

Eddie's hand found its way to Jamie's free hand as she watched him massage his head with the other. "Are you okay to stand?" She had worked his boxers and pants up enough so he could finish himself and did not have to overextend himself.

Jamie sighed. "Yeah, but it's pretty bad when my fiancée, three months pregnant with triplets, is having an easier time moving than me, it's getting better but not fast enough."

Eddie chuckled. "Just figuring that out huh, better late than never." She eyed him worrisomely. "Seriously you could have motion problems for a while, and I think I told you yesterday not to do things yourself when your body says otherwise, you were in a coma…that means you were unconscious. I know you want to bounce back right away, but if you're having trouble moving right now your body is trying to tell you to take it easy."

Jamie shrugged. "My lungs just feel pathetic right now, I'm getting winded too easily."

Eddie pulled him to a stand while he finished putting on his lower clothes. Her voice was quiet but blunt. "Jamie, you were shot square in the chest with an armor piercing round, it's a miracle you are breathing. If it had entered near your heart, I don't think you would be, pace yourself."

Jamie nodded touching her stomach with a smile. "You look beautiful. How are you handling it?" She measured 20 weeks despite only being pregnant for 12, but the doctor had said that it was common for women carrying triplets to appear 8-10 weeks ahead of a solo pregnancy in terms of womb size.

Eddie smiled gratefully with a light tone. "I guess I am doing really well. The bathroom breaks are getting more and more frequent, I feel like a squeeze toy most of the day, but nausea and pain have still been pretty minimal to this point, which isn't typical especially with triplets. I think your daughters are just behaving themselves because they know dad was hurt so they're leaving me alone so I can pick up the slack for you."

Jamie sighed rubbing her belly gently. "You shouldn't have to pick up the slack for me Eddie, I should be doing that for you."

Eddie shook her head dismissively. "Not when you were shot clean through the chest and only a few inches from permanent paralysis." They felt their daughters noticeably kick a moment later. Eddie smiled sounding full of sentiment. "Every time I mention you or the what happened to you, they kick."

Jamie was indifferent. "I think that's a coincidence."

Eddie shook her head emotionally. "You're the most modest person I have ever met." She pressed his hand over her stomach and there was a kick again. Eddie continued emotionally. "See, they know you're touch, our daughters aren't even in the world yet and they already love you as much as I do. That was their way of letting you know that I'm going to be fine and you should let me help you."

Jamie smiled. "Oh really? That's a lot of guessing isn't it?"

Eddie shrugged, speaking aloud. "Girls, your dad is stubborn, just like usual." They kicked hard enough for Jamie to physically react. Eddie grinned. "See things are clearly ahead of schedule."

Jamie grinned beside himself. "How is that possible."

Eddie chuckled "There's three of them in here, and more than that I just know they love you. Pregnancy is not supposed to be this easy, especially when carrying triplets. Everything is supposed to be worse but it has been pretty minor. " She squeezed his hand. "I'm convinced they just know

Jamie put his arms around Eddie, delighted in the fact that he could not quite get in as close as usual because of her stomach size.

His voice was mesmerized. "So, you're saying they have been on their best behavior because they know I almost died?"

Eddie whispered back calmly. "They want you to heal and so do I."

Jamie sighed. "A mobster doesn't get rest, and you're crazy if you think I'm going to let you finish things by yourself."

Eddie sounded insistent. "I always have your back. Besides staying careful of the window when we purposely had sex to get pregnant." She gave a contemplative smile now. "I'm not surprised we ended up with three, I was going to make sure your swimmers did there job and as it turns out they showed off."

Jamie chuckled. "I don't think your exaggerating Eddie."

Eddie rolled her eyes. "So not the point Reagan." She continued calmly. "I'm sticking with you undercover, even if I have to push papers or handle the drugs for a while if he ever lets us in on exactly where they are."

Jamie sounded befuddled. "I never thought I'd hear us talk about handling drugs and be happy about it."

Eddie grinned. "Me either, now let's go to dinner. I'm hungry and your unborn daughters need to eat too."

Jamie nodded with a grin. "Luckily the family already said that they were making a bunch of extra food since you eat everything you can these days."

Eddie rolled her eyes again as they left the apartment together and shot back with annoyance. "Shut up Reagan, or I will eat you."

II

Throughout dinner, the rest of the family kept stealing glances at Jamie and much to his annoyance the looks were full of pity.

His voice had a slight edge. "Can we just get the elephant out of the room, I was shot, but I'm fine. Stop staring at me like I'm fragile."

Erin quipped with a chuckle. "Suddenly Eddie is the only one who can worry about you?"

Jamie crossed his arms. "Like that, yes."

Eddie smiled. "We don't have to steal glances anymore, but it's nice to know that was always exclusive to me."

Sean couldn't help himself as he watched Eddie finish her third plate of food, he seemed impressed. "Okay I know you're eating for two but I'm full after one plate. Where do you put it all?"

Danny shrugged sounding apologetic and mildly annoyed by the remark. "I'm sorry, I had no idea my son could be both rude and stupid at the same time."

Sean was defensive. "What? She puts most competitive eaters to shame, it's amazing!"

Eddie chuckled. "Not the first time that's been mentioned but most of it is going to the girls: Mary, Jamie, and Sarah." There were loud exclaims of surprise all around the table.

Danny grinned at his little brother. "I always knew that Jamie was the girliest of the men in the family but triplet daughters, he is way more girly then I thought."

Jamie shot Danny a look of increased annoyance. "I do not act girly."

Erin clarified, "Sentimental and sensitive is more like it."

Jamie shrugged. "Fine."

Henry spoke quizzically. "You already named them all, doesn't it make more sense to wait and see what they look like first?"

Eddie shook her head. "I wanted to name one girl after Jamie, you know, his informal name; Jamie Rose Reagan. It fits nicely and we can call her Rose if we want to avoid confusion."

Jamie made up his mind to tell the rest of the family about his temporary crossover into the afterlife. He spoke passively. "I know what they look like already, identical to Eddie."

Danny chuckled. "Nobody knows what their kids look like before they come, but nice try thinking you can see the future."

Jamie continued bluntly. "I do know, I saw who they grow into as kids while I was in my coma."

Frank spoke surprised. "You got a sneak peek is what you're saying."

Jamie looked directly at his father with emphasis and feeling in his words. "I saw them, they are Eddie in every way. They ran into my arms, I felt and hugged them, I played with them." He continued calmly. "Mom was there too."

Erin was emotional. "I told Eddie you were just visiting upstairs and took your time, I never expected to be right."

Danny was struck a bit. "Did she say anything?"

Jamie smiled, looking at Frank again. "Tell your father Kelly Peterson was right…" Frank looked jarred but knew exactly what Mary would be referring to, he was suddenly very aware of his wedding ring. Jamie looked at Erin. "I set Jack straight when he was shot, don't be afraid to put your family back together." She also looked caught off guard. He looked at Danny. "You are you and that was always enough for Linda, it will be enough for someone else too when you are ready, and she doesn't blame you for her death and knows you will catch them eventually, so let the guilt go…she loves you and the boys most." Danny sat back in his chair thinking hard and misty-eyed. Jamie turned to Eddie holding her hand tightly. "I've been the whisper in both your ears, so you don't end up here until all is said and done." He was emotional now. "She's been calling you back, you can't hang around here when your life with her just started, and the big bosses won't let you make her a liar." He finished passively. "She said she loves everyone always and that Joe is grateful for everyone for finishing what he started."

The reaction around the table was stunned silence, except for Henry who had a passive smile. "By the grace of God."

Eddie melted. "Somehow, this makes you landing in a coma, a little easier to get over…I'm glad you're okay."

Frank looked a bit more aged. "Something we are all thankful for, how are you doing?"

Jamie sighed. "Tired, especially by the end of the day."

Danny was blunt. "That's why I'm tagging in, both of you have a major liability now."

Eddie seemed offended. "Hey, I'll have you know I'm moving around fine."

Erin seemed to agree. "You are but you honestly should not be, your smaller and pregnant with triplets, you should be miserable, I don't know how you are not."

Eddie shrugged in agreement rubbing her expanded belly gently. "I think the girls know what's happened to their father and are content to take it easy on me." She glanced at Jamie. "Every time I mention his accident they kick."

Henry was intrigued. "Three more cops in the family?"

Eddie shrugged with a smile. "We'll see, time will tell."

Henry seemed reflective. "Well, you all will, but I will be in God's house by then."

Nicky was a bit melancholy at the realization, she turned to her uncle and soon to be aunt sadly. "That's so depressing, why did you two wait so long?"

Jamie exchanged a sad look with Eddie before addressing the room subdued. "We always ask ourselves that question all the time…sorry pop."

He shrugged. "Hey, I wasn't complaining. It's just a fact that I'm looking the end right in the face, but I'm not going before I leave my new great-granddaughters with memories of Henry Reagan."

Eddie smiled sadly. "Still, I'm sorry that you might not know them as any older than early school age, that's our fault for waiting so long."

Henry shrugged. "I might be on the back nine, but I plan on sticking around as long God sees fit."

Jamie nodded "we wouldn't have it any other way, pop."

III

A month later was Jamie's first time undercover since being shot. He moved slowly at Eddie's insistence, it was still odd that she was functioning so well, now looking around 25 weeks pregnant while chronologically only about 16 weeks along. As for Jamie, his body was still not healing to his liking and he was starting to realize that he'd taken his lungs and breathing for granted. It used to be automatic, now he actually had to think about it and sometimes found it extremely frustrating that it took regular effort. They were meeting with a buyer now and given Jamie and Eddie's obvious circumstances, Ricky sent both his personal security guys (Bruce and Wayne) with them.

Jamie was quiet as they waited for the buyer to show themselves. "We normally can't stand extra help but considering all the chaos we've had to deal with lately, using you both as shields is just fine."

One voice was blunt and deep. "Shielding is what we are paid for." The other was sharp and bored. "Besides the boss finds both of you very useful and insisted that you be accommodated for your current situation."

Eddie sounded casual. "I never expected to be hiding my ballooning bump behind human statues, but we ended up broke and have both been shot, we're used to unexpected situations."

Jamie shrugged. "Ellie's right, but I wish you would have stayed in the car shorty."

Eddie gave a half smile. "And leave you by yourself, I don't think so. Pregnant or not, I always have your back lamb-chop, it's the first of our vows _."_

Jamie addressed the other two bluntly. "I know, both of you shield her from view while I deal with the buyer."

They nodded, one sounding more reluctant than the other. "Alright Jimmy, but it won't be much longer before her size makes that impossible, not trying to sound harsh it's just inevitable."

Eddie sighed. "Is it bad I want our girls to come early, this is the last time out for a while."

Jamie shrugged. "No, but they would be barely around viability if they came now, let's hope for something a little closer to the normal nine months."

Eddie gave an agreeable sigh. "By which time I will have gone from looking like a basketball to a wrecking ball, a big one."

Jamie examined her belly carefully. "You look slightly bigger than a soccer ball right now."

Eddie shrugged. "Lamb-chop, I don't think there's much difference between the two of them, except in weight, so I guess we'll go with a soccer ball."

The gentler of the two with them spoke. "I hear movement, you will have to continue this later."

It was about five minutes later that a few people came into view, rough and messy looking. Jamie spoke bluntly and did not waste time. "Which one of you has the money?"

The one in the middle spoke up, his voice was indifferent. "I do, you got the product?" Jamie nodded. The buyer's voice was cautionary. "I want to test it first, make sure it's what I'm paying for."

Jamie sounded effortlessly irritated. "We don't have time to watch you shoot up, this comes from Ricky Ortiz."

He was still blunt. "You either wait or I make you test it instead." The two flanking him drew guns for extra effect.

Jamie and everyone else reciprocated. He cracked his neck for extra effect. "You know, I was hoping that for once, nobody would do something stupid." His infection sounded irritated on a level reserved only for his work as Jimmy Riordan.

The lead was matching wits with Jamie bluntly. "I heard an extra gun, seems like you are the one being stupid hiding another player."

Jamie's voice became even more threatening. "I'm protecting my wife, trust me you make one wrong move and we will blow your heads off!"

Bruce became blunt. "I'd be more concerned with losing Ricky's business in the future, he doesn't like when people insult his product or imply that he doesn't take this seriously…if you're okay with walking away from five pounds of the best quality heroin, go ahead and get lost."

Eddie whispered so quietly that her voice could have been gone completely. "They are going to shoot us and try and take everything." Jamie heard from in front of them.

The lead's voice sounded cocky. "You know what, we'll…take our chances!" There was a series of bangs and the buyer's cronies fell to the floor.

Jamie sounded mocking now. "Oops, too slow. Now I suggest you take the product and get the hell out of here unless you want to end up dead." Jamie shot a final warning, which made sure he took the drugs and ran.

The others were impressed. "How did you know?"

Jamie was blunt. "We know how people's minds work, and that guy wanted everything, it was easy to spot." He continued casually. "Can you get everything back to Ricky, I need a drink and to spend time with my wife because all we've done the last five or six months is have to deal with a bunch of shit, and get shot at and now Ellie is four months pregnant."

Eddie shrugged dryly. "Yet I look six or seven months already. At least this was the first deal gone wrong."

They sighed, Wayne was indifferent. "We'll handle that, but you have to report back in person before you call it for the night. That rule won't ever change. It is how Ricky measures things and he doesn't tolerate ignoring it."

Jamie and Eddie nodded. He sounded irritable but understood. "Alright, but like I said we've both been shot, and I was in a coma, and this shit is taking its fucking time, so we need to take time."

Bruce gave a casual response. "I'm sure given your condition boss will understand. He just likes to keep direct communication."

Jamie gave an indifferent nod. "Okay, fine."

IV

Back at the warehouse, Ricky was less than thrilled about the messy nature of this particular meet. He paced for quite a while after hearing the details and it was difficult to read his immediate reaction.

Ricky sounded indifferent. "Are you both okay?"

Jamie sounded brash and irritated. "Why do I get the feeling you don't care if we're okay?"

Ricky sighed sharply. "A mess like this is rare, I don't like when things turn into a mess. Bodies dropping makes noise and making noise usually tends to draw attention… I am sure you get why I don't like when things get messy. Anonymity is fragile."

Eddie's ring hand was over her stomach now. She sounded icy. "So is life, and if you are suggesting we should have waited until those bastards shot us dead…"

Rick shook his head. "No, but knowing something would happen before it does is not something I have ever come across and Wayne and Bruce swear that's exactly what happened. Such instincts come from more than just security jobs."

Jamie finished dangerously. "Lucky we were there, or your security would be dead. We can't control the unpredictability of gang members and drug dealers and if you are going to have a problem with us prioritizing our family above death then we're more then you'll have to deal with a real mess."

Ricky shook his head again sounding dismissive. "As much as I would love to see you follow through on that, I am more level headed than you think Jimmy." His tone was loosened now. "As long as executions don't become a regular thing it will not be a problem." He shifted his tone to something like concern. "The condition of both of you is worrisome for continued operations and somehow Ellie's pregnancy is the lesser concern of the two."

Eddie sounded indifferent. "Jimmy is fine."

Ricky spoke bluntly. "That needs to be tested, hold your breath." Jamie reluctantly did, lasting little more than a few seconds. Ricky was blunt again. "You are less than before, there is a reasonable disconnect between your body and brain, not major but problematic."

Eddie's voice was icy again. "He was in a coma. Is that what you do, state the obvious? He needs time we both do!"

Ricky sighed. "Your pregnancy is easier to accommodate than Jimmy's lungs in a weakened state for what is likely a long-term period."

Jamie was blunt. "I can do my damn job, you are not benching me!"

He sighed. "No, but I will be thinking between now and our next meet, the big drop cannot turn into a mess like today did even if your circumstances can't be helped which is why I hope things are more favorable once these situations. We are done for today."

They nodded and Eddie and Jamie left a few minutes later, him physically and her mentally tired and both wondering how much longer they would have to deal with the potential and reality of getting shot in both their jobs.

 **V**

Back at home Jamie and Eddie gathered themselves a late dinner, leftover spaghetti, which they ate before retreating to the bedroom for the night.

Eddie sighed turning to Jamie. "I think I will go on desk duty with both jobs now. My pain and discomfort are still pretty minimal by some miracle, but…" She rubbed her ever-expanding belly gently with both hands continuing passively. "I don't want to push my luck anymore."

Jamie held her engaged hand gently while relief spread across his face. "Thank god, I didn't want to pressure you into suspending field work, but we've had a lot of close calls all the way around."

Eddie looked hard at Jamie and without warning, tears escaped her eyes. She sounded quite emotional. "If you died…I couldn't, I can't, don't want to breathe without you."

Jamie aimed for levity. "Hey, that's my thing lately." Eddie burst into audible sobs gripping him as hard as she did just after the Sorento shooting. He responded with concern. "Eddie…"

She spoke with frantic emotion with her forehead glued to his, a will filled whisper. "God Jamie, I love you!"

He gave her a slight smile. "I know that what's going on, you weren't this much of a wreck after Sorento or when I woke up from the coma?"

Eddie kissed him and it was not driven by heat or passion but desperation. It was a moment before she spoke again, and it seemed more and more clear that her ability to stay calm had cracked. "I just relive it so often, you took a bullet, bled out and fell into a coma for 24 hours, there was so much blood on the ground…when I saw you I felt like someone had cut my throat with a knife."

Jamie tried to calm Eddie quietly. "Hey, relax, this really isn't good for you or the pregnancy." She did not relax, something had clearly triggered an emotional floodgate.

They took off each other's clothes briskly and threw them on the floor before Eddie merged gently over Jamie's body which she regularly kissed while settling herself on top of him.

She spoke with the same desperation in her voice. "You are my miracle Jamie, I thought you were dead, and I don't ever want to feel that again, this was so much worse than Sorento, it was impossible to see coming." She ran her hands along his surgical scars with pain in her eyes.

Jamie locked eyes with Eddie intently as he placed both hands on her belly. "I wouldn't have left you and the girls alone, never." He rubbed Eddie's belly gently smiling at her, she looked beautiful pregnant. "I think it's good you're calling it quits on the ground for now."

Eddie nodded agreeably. "I look like a large watermelon now that I see it without clothes, it's not like I can hide that, carrying triplets makes me larger anyway."

Jamie kissed her stomach and gave an emphatic smile. He studied his fiancée mesmerized by her pregnant figure in all its glory. "You look beautiful."

Eddie smiled back adjusting herself to take his erection into her body, giving a calm exhale as she felt the penetration. "I love you even more and I didn't think that was possible."

Eddie began a steady movement and quickly realized that pregnancy had sexual advantages. Her general swelling below the belt meant she felt everything and felt it even more intensely.

Jamie looked at Eddie carefully. "You okay without pillows?"

Eddie reminded him while breathy. "I'm not on my back Jamie. She stopped momentarily sounding worried. "I should have checked with you before I got things going since your lung capacity isn't the same."

Jamie shrugged. "It'll be good practice, and I'll let you when I need a breather and unfortunately it's bound to happen but at least everything below the belt is the same."

Eddie bent over Jamie and kissed him deeply with a gentle whisper. "Jamie, I don't care if you need to break every five minutes. I just want to be with you, and forget about everything else right now, I almost lost you, much more painful than the last time, and every time I think I know how much I need you it hits me harder that without you I would never be completely happy again."

He stroked her hair gently. "You don't have to worry about that, I'm not going anywhere, and I am convinced of that now than ever, and not because of my mother playing guardian angel."

Eddie was curious. "What then?"

Jamie fixed his eyes in hers with an emphasis in his response. "My will, I never truly understood the force of will until I survived this; how someone can survive things like getting shot in the head, or burned in a fire, or a plane crash…the sheer force of will." He kissed her belly, lingering there before he spoke movingly. "No matter what else happens to me I will fight to stay alive for our family."

Eddie was overcome with emotion again. "That's why I love you Jameson Reagan." She peered at her enlarged belly and swollen body with a small smile. "I'd have to, carrying triplets for you and making my body this fat in the process."

Jamie smiled studying Eddie's nude, pregnant figure with captivation. "You're not fat Eddie, not by a long shot."

Eddie touched his face sounding grateful, but dismissive. "You're sweet for lying Reagan, but this massive dome I'm lugging around says otherwise."

Jamie chuckled. "Trust me Eddie you look fantastic."

Eddie smiled through a longing exhale. "Damn stomach already looks like I'm over 30 weeks, even though I'm not quite that far yet. I need to figure out the best way to compensate for my stomach because my brief level off period from when you were shot, is over."

Jamie smiled. "I'm open to trial and error."

Eddie smiled back. "Just cue me when you need a breather."

Jamie nodded responding casually. "I've never minded you calling the shots, that hasn't changed at all."

Eddie smiled broadly in response. "Then we'll just start from here."

Since being on top allowed her to control everything, she started slowly, which was difficult because every bit of pleasure she felt was magnified from how swollen things were now that Eddie was in the third trimester of the pregnancy. Very quickly she became more aroused than usual.

Eddie lost herself in it…well not entirely. She kept herself aware of Jamie's stamina, and made sure not to increase pace too quickly. For whatever reason his lung capacity seemed to have deteriorated despite successful surgery, right now he was doing fine but neither of them knew when he would peak.

Evidently, this was on Jamie's mind too because after a while he spoke out loud. "Hey I appreciate the simplistic approach on my behalf, but I know you're bored."

Her voice was breathy with a dismissive infection. "Who says I'm bored? This is just fine."

Jamie shrugged and chuckled. "No, it's not, it's foreplay and that aggravates you."

Eddie smiled pulling Jamie into her body while continuing to slowly ride his member, as if determined to prove him wrong. "I told you before I just want to be with you."

Jamie nuzzled Eddie's neck and breast's carefully before responding quietly. "I love you for watching out for me here, but I won't be shy about letting you know how much can handle."

Eddie met his forehead with a tight-lipped smile. "You are still ignoring that you have survived a life threating gunshot wound Jamie, and one of your lungs collapsed. I don't mind easing back into this."

He sounded skeptical. "Yes, you do."

Eddie felt Jamie's right-hand press gently against the pulse of her wrist and instinctively pulled it away as a result. Her response was a dry annoyance. "Do you just get a kick out of doing that or something? Besides my pulse is not even reliable this time because it's already elevated from trying to carefully fuck you Reagan."

Jamie chuckled. "You know I noticed that you really like dropping f-bombs when we do it."

Eddie had been moving with him regularly and was now at a brisk pace. "That's because you drive me crazy, you wonderfully irritating man but I will try to edit myself more."

Jamie smiled. "Embrace this like you usually do, it will help me and be good for my lungs. Same reason a baby crying is good for them. My point is they will never get back to where they were before if they aren't pushed."

Eddie conceded his point smiling. "Pretty soon we'll have three babies crying and screaming their lungs off."

Jamie nodded agreeably. "All the more reason you shouldn't worry about me."

Their rhythm increased as Jamie kissed her lovingly, continuing even after their lips separated, lingering gently on her throat and cleavage, and then eventually each of her breasts, every second felt better and better.

Eddie was breathy once Jamie continued. "Jamie, I will always worry about you, but you are right…" God, he was great all the way around, but he really knew how to give an oral presentation and all throughout they moved together with continued focused thrusts. The climax was one giant unified orgasm accompanied with erotic noise and a canon of discharge, leaving them both notably damp downstairs. Eddie was reminded how much she loved the physicality of sex with this him. Her partner, her lover, her best friend, father to her children—finally adding that one to the list gave her an orgasm whenever she thought of it—the most amazing person she had ever met in her life, and it wasn't even close.

Eddie was slightly red from embarrassment. "Dammit, if it makes you feel any better your lungs aren't the only thing that's out of shape. The one thing I knew I would hate about being pregnant in the third trimester, you'll probably get a lot more than you bargained for, I cannot control it with how much pressure that's on my bladder these days." She sighed. "I'm moving well, but these babies own my bladder, it's annoying that orgasm comes with…leaks."

Jamie was sweetly dismissive. "I don't care about that and any guy who would, feels zero empathy for what I'm sure is the most annoying aspect of pregnancy. It's just something extra that comes when you do." He set up several pillows near the edge of the bed so that Eddie could stay comfortably on her back without being flat, since that was ill-advised later in pregnancy.

Eddie's expression became a glowing smile at his words. She was emphatic. "I love you so much Jamie Reagan, so, so much." Eddie took his setup with a relieved inflection. "I don't think I could go without you getting mouthy below the belt, so I'm glad I just need to stay elevated, now you can get to work."

Jamie smiled and knelt in front of Eddie as she spread her legs wide enough to expose herself completely, resting her legs against over his shoulders, watching with satisfaction as he dropped his head in gently and set to work.

Jamie started massaging both her hips smiling with an emotional inflection. "I know it's not a competition, but I really do love you more, the best thing I can do is show you."

Jamie ran his tongue as far inside her as it would go and moved slowly in a circle for several minutes moving his head simultaneously so that his hair stimulated everything on the outside, most notably her clit. Primal noises quickly rose from Eddie, noises that she normally tried very hard to keep a lid on but given being pregnant was already primal in and of itself. So, she let go and gave in completely, to enjoy it, if for no other reason than because she knew that the next time her vagina was occupied that she would be shouting from pain and not pleasure, giving birth three times when most women only have to do it one at a time…so yeah, she was determined to enjoy this.

Soon Eddie's voice was elevated and urging. "Reagan, keep going…" She noticed he responded by picking up the pace and moving one hand from her hips to her clit, palming it quickly in various ways. Eddie responded with a shouty break in her voice. "Fuck me! I'm going to try and remember this when I'm pushing our kids out of there…" She lifted her head and spread her legs apart even more, sounding flushed with excitement at the sight of his mouth attached to the place from where she would soon birth life. Eddie was honestly just amazed that God saw fit to give women anatomy that experienced the absolute extremes of pleasure and pain, having multiple children and having multiple orgasms. The latter was building to yet another new level right now. Somewhere during her all her thoughts Eddie realized that Jamie had switched where his tongue and fingers were doing.

Soon, Jamie's efforts pushed that long known button for Eddie, and just kept pushing it. She was shouting euphorically through an orgasm that seemed endless and then it hit a new threshold when Eddie felt an unmistakable surge in her stomach, the babies were actively moving, a lot. Eddie responded with loud breathy excitement. "…Jamie! I don't know how much you can multitask, but give me your other hand, you've got to feel this!" He abandoned her hips with his other hand and let Eddie guide it onto her belly. She was right, mini earthquakes were happening in there, like his unborn daughters were happy their mother was happy because Eddie hadn't exactly happy lately after everything they'd been through recently. She was still rising and started massaging her breasts vigorously because it was the only sense of control she had right now, so much activity left her feeling like a rocket moving at high speed, and then quite suddenly she exploded in a blissful peak of uninhibited shouts and screams. Jamie took her ejaculation in stride and kept going until he heard her breathing shift to deep and slow, which instinctively told him that she had finally had enough.

They carefully reset themselves to a front spooning position, Eddie was still calming down as they connected foreheads, like they always did. She smiled at Jamie with a praising tone. "No wonder you're a Sargent Reagan, I was worried I was going to go into labor you just seem to set a new bar every time we do it."

Jamie smiled chuckling lightly. "Hard to believe we used to awkwardly discuss people thinking we were doing it and babies when were patrol partners, seems like another lifetime ago.

Eddie's eyes went to her stomach as she continued to gather herself. She responded with blunt emotional excitement. "Technically it was three lifetimes ago, pretty soon our daughters will be here, every time I think about that…" She rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. "You're the father of my children, the only man who I would ever want to butcher my body having kids for."

Jamie raised his eyebrows. "Really, the only one?"

Eddie nodded sounding certain. "Uh-hu, if things would not have worked out with you, I never would have had kids, I probably would have been content to not have sex for the rest of my life. She sounded fueled by the things still fresh on her mind. "I know that seems unbelievable the way I just shot off a lot more than my mouth, but I was perfectly content not having sex or kids until I met you." Eddie smiled as she continued to voice thoughts from earlier. "Are you going to watch me in labor?"

Jamie held her engaged hand with his while touching Eddie's belly with the other. "Actually, I want to deliver them."

Eddie melted at his words sounding surprised. "Really, you won't be grossed out?"

Jamie chuckled lightly. "Eddie, I've delivered before, and with you, I've spent enough time with my head down there that being grossed out is a non-issue." He continued a bit teasingly. "I've taken the shots that come out of there too. Why would I be grossed out when your pushing our daughters out of the same place."

Eddie shrugged. "A lot of men are grossed out by childbirth."

Jamie shrugged. "That isn't me." He kissed her momentarily and then squeezed her hand with a smile sounding blunt while shaking his head. "I never understood how a father can let someone else deliver their children, let a stranger be the first thing they feel. We help make them, you carry them for nine months, we should help bring them into the world." He continued looking at her with a passive expression. "Last year, with that couple, the whole time I'm helping that girl stay calm and getting ready to take the baby, in the back of my mind I'm thinking what the hell buddy you should be doing this, not me." He finished with finality. "The point is that, doctor or not, there is no way I'm letting anyone else deliver our kids but me."

Eddie squeezed his hand as they joined over her enlarged belly. She was soft and mesmerized. "You really are awesome Jamie Reagan, nobody is perfect but you're pretty damn close." She met his eyes clearly sexually refreshed. "It's a turn on knowing that you will be delivering our daughters when you handle everything down there so well already." She kissed him again with extreme intent and afterward Eddie moved down some so she had better access to everything on Jamie below the belt.

Eddie sounded gently blunt. "Alright, I better hear something from you when you're lungs get overworked, this is not about proving anything, in this case, that's my job!"

Jamie nodded with a rhetorical response. "Trust me, as much as I hate to admit it, my lungs just aren't the same, it's frustrating as hell."

Eddie kissed along his scars tenderly sounding loving and gentle. "I know Jamie, when I was shot in the vest and bruised my rib it was hard to breathe for weeks. You are dealing with a lot worse than that but no matter how many times I say take it easy you don't seem to get that you cannot just bounce back from a collapsed lung and a coma in a month." She lingered on his heart for a few minutes taking time to hear its rhythm every time her lips met against it. Her voice was quiet now. "You remember what the surgeon said, I know you do."

Jamie sighed. "Six months to a year before I feel normal again…" The dull annoyance in his voice was obvious.

Eddie continued. "Exactly, I can help get you some exercise, that's where I was going already." She smiled. "After the pregnancy, we'll go running and I can you're sparring partner, mix in kickboxing with the regular stuff."

Jamie sighed again. "But…"

Eddie talked over him. "I promise you will get back to 100% but you need to promise me you'll relax and stop forcing yourself to heal."

He made to protest again. "But Eddie…"

She talked over him issuing a soft threat. "Jameson Reagan don't make me smother you with my lady parts until you promise! I swear I'll do it!"

Jamie smirked. "Yeah because you like doing that you like anything involving that pussy of yours, no matter what it is."

Eddie rolled her eyes punching him with a wry smile. "Just promise Reagan, so I can give you a blow already"

Jamie smiled. "Alright! Fine I give."

Eddie was tempted to start fast to get Jamie back for his remark but thought better of it both because of the lesser state of his lungs and because what he said was true, she was so into action below the belt that she wished she cared a little more about the buildup regardless of what they chose to do…but she had since made peace with the fact that she was a feminine tomboy. Being a typical girl had lost its appeal after all the worst experiences of her life left her getting deceived, used, objectified and then discarded or abandoned like trash. Ironically, Jamie was the only person to treat her like a princess and not lose his morality in the process and she was going to pay him back right now.

Jamie was suddenly reminded of one of the first things Eddie Janko had ever said to him. There was nostalgia in his words. "Be gentle with me."

Eddie smiled broadly. "Don't worry, this time I'll drive slow, and only speed up if you are handling it well."

Jamie locked eyes with her, his tone was loving. "Your driving is not that bad, or maybe I've just fallen so far in love with you that I've gotten used to it."

Eddie answered him with a half-smile. "I love you too partner. Now hang on for the ride."

Starting slow was a good thing because Eddie was only sucking him off for a little while when he was preparing to fire, he came when she rubbed her belly against his cock and balls and taking the fire with her pregnant belly was satisfying considering that his ability to shoot led to her pregnancy in the first place.

Jamie was quickly apologetic but turned on all the same. "Sorry about the quick burst, I guess my lungs aren't the only thing out of shape on me."

Eddie sounded dismissive. "Trust me, that's not out of shape, it's more like impatience and given what you've been through I saw it coming. She smiled. "Like I said the only one with something to prove is me."

Jamie sounded challenging. "I don't know about that." He got off the bed looking at her distantly with a teasing stare. Eddie sounded challenging too. "Hey, where do you think you're going!"

Jamie's teasing attitude continued. "Don't worry, I'm just taking you into custody."

Eddie maneuvered herself off the bed with a smile. "Oh, and what if I resist arrest?"

Jamie smiled returning to her and taking her gently by the arm, guiding her to a frisk position against the wall. He sounded playfully blunt. "I don't think you will, you've never resisted me before."

Eddie smiled as Jamie wrapped his arms gently around her belly and spread her arms and legs against the wall. "Well, you're right about that, you can fucking take me anytime Sargent."

Jamie latched to her completely and breached her ass carefully from behind. He sounded longing as he whispered quietly in her ear. "You have no idea how much I hate having to separate work and home. If it were up to me we would do it on the job at least once a day."

Eddie was turned on entirely now. "All of this has been pretty damn good Reagan."

Jamie licked Eddie's back whispering quietly. "Just wait."

Eddie reacted anxiously. "Oh boy, you're turning me on now!" He began to drive slowly and repeatedly into her ass. "You're such a tease sometimes Jamie, stop messing around!" He sped up quickly in response. Soon Eddie was hit with a sensational orgasm that left her even more aggressive. "Oh god, I can't…" Jamie was about to slow down when he heard her bluntly. "No, I mean can't reach my clit because my oversized bump is in the way!" Eddie responded gratefully when Jamie's hands quickly moved there and began to rapidly stimulate her clit, and after a few minutes, she was vocal about it. "OH GOD JAMIE…!" Eddie had no idea how Jamie was working with such speed at both ends but she felt too aroused and happy to care. Like earlier, she felt forceful movement in her belly and found her voice long enough to talk aloud. "I don't mean to keep waking you up, but moms busy getting busy right now…" Jamie's right hand shot back up to Eddie's belly and his daughter's activity seemed to give him a second wind. Eddie had to grip the wall at this point and screamed loudly as she felt a huge surge of intense orgasms stacked together. For a moment she thought that she had either died, or gone into labor, but then she realized she'd lost control of herself…again. Her breathing was still quick and deep when she found her voice again. "I'm sorry, I think you're too good at this." She smiled. "Could you feel them kicking again? I think they think it's their own bit of play time or something."

Jamie sounded surprisingly nonchalant, his pace had reset to slow and steady. "That's probably it." He kissed her brushing her neck with his tongue and his inflection was that of a man who was mesmerized by the woman before him. "I love you Eddie Janko."

Eddie was dismissive. "Even though I just exploded on you for the second time?" Jamie responded by sucking her neck deeply while he stayed in both ends at a steady pace. She turned nonchalant now. "I will take that as a yes." Taking it at both ends from the man she was staggeringly in love with really was the best thing she ever felt in her life.

That was what was so wonderful about Jamie Reagan, he was the only man that had earned her, and that realization was what had Eddie appreciative of her mother's motives for the first time in her life.

Sometime later, when they were spooning in bed this time from behind Jamie was overwhelmed with emotion suddenly.

Jamie was a bit hesitant. "Eddie…if this, how badly I was shot, affects me forever and I can't be a cop at some point…"

Eddie knew where he was going, she was softly blunt. "I've told you before, I fell in love with Jamie Reagan, your job isn't part of that distinction and neither is the condition you are in so if you were worried about that you don't need to be."

Jamie sighed. "I just think its too good to be true, my life, that you are in it."

Eddie was passive and gentle. "Well, I am and I'm not going anywhere so promise me we will grow old together."

Jamie squeezed her gently. "I promise."

Eddie continued with a pleading tone in her voice. "And I know it's till death do us part but promise me after that too."

Jamie gave an emotionally emphatic response. "I, Jamie Reagan promise and swear on the police badge I wear every day that I will love you, Eddie Janko, until the end of time."

She responded equally emphatic. "I Edit Janko promise and swear on the police badge I wear every day to love you until the end of time." Almost on cue, they felt tremendous movement from their daughters as their hands lay still on Eddie's belly. She was silently crying now. "I'm glad you girls know just how much your dad I love each other, but it's nothing compared to how much we'll love you, we'll be seeing you soon, okay."

They kicked again and Eddie sniffed happily as she stayed glued to Jamie, wrapped in the covers of their bed with their hands together on her ever-growing womb, which their daughters called home. She marveled at being nearly twice as big as was typical at 16 weeks and wondered how much larger she would get as the triplet pregnancy continued and surprised to find herself smiling about it as they fell asleep for the night.

* * *

A/N: that's it for this one! Updates are still indefinite, college is annoying…this storying is churning in my head much more often than I can update it, which is a bummer considering the plans I have


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Finally, back! The gap was twofold; first, I spent last summer in school and did not get the chance to play any video games, which is always the priority with my free time. Second, I had to think seriously about how long this story would be and have decided that it will be 11 or 12 chapters, and I do plan on writing a sequel to this story. As for this one, I will have written some things that are unrealistic concerning Eddie's pregnancy—she's about five months now—or ignored routine things. In this area I have a similar attitude to the writers of the actual show in the sense that I don't want to do things that everyone else does (i.e., doctor's appointments), so keep that in mind as you read specifics with this plot point. I do address some things while still taking my liberties.

Reviews are welcome. Now if people are still reading...😊

* * *

 _That morning_ saw the sun shining brightly through the bedroom window of Jamie's apartment. Throughout sleep, during the night Eddie shifted positions, snuggled facing Jamie, thus his face was the first thing that met her eyes when she opened them. Eddie did not move all she did was watch the man she loved to sleep, and her smile was ear to ear as she did. True Eddie was not the gushy type, and they were not a gushy couple, but she was starting to realize that being around Jamie was everything to her. She knew that he felt the same way, that alone was the only reason the two of them had settled for staying patrol partners for so long, to watch each other's backs. Now they were together, and soon they would have three daughters.

Eddie came to another realization that led her to rouse her fiancé awake quietly. "Jamie, I have an idea."

Jamie responded lazily. "If it's another roll in the hay, let me wake up first."

Eddie chuckled aware of the fact that the quilt was the only thing that was between them. She continued with a smile. "No, though I haven't ruled that out depending on how this goes."

Jamie opened his eyes with a passive expression that turned into a smile. "What's on your mind?"

Eddie wore a contemplative look and continued with uncertainty. "What do you think about eloping, within the next few days?"

Jamie was confused. "Didn't I get in trouble because you didn't want a fly by night wedding?"

Eddie gave a conceding nod, continuing defensively. "Yeah, but what if we got married twice?"

Jamie looked no less confused. "What do you mean?"

Eddie continued with hesitant clarification. "Well, the wedding is in a month and a half, and I won't be able to fit in my dress or enjoy the reception." She looked at him with more longing in her words. "But more than that I'm tired of being Eddie Janko, I want to be your wife and I cannot wait anymore. So, we get married at the courthouse before the girls are born and then we have a formal ceremony after they are born with friends and family." Eddie watched him carefully. "What do you think? Bad idea to it once for the legality and once for formality?"

Jamie shook his head. "No, it makes sense given our situation, and now that you mention it, I want to be able to call you my wife."

Eddie smiled. "Mrs. Reagan does have a nice ring to it."

He smiled. "You'd take the weight of being a Reagan?"

She nodded. "Yes, I love you, I want Reagan as my last name because we are building a lifetime together, that and after we are married I want to prove to the rest of the world that the Reagan name is not why I am marrying you."

Jamie wore a passive look. "It has always bothered you, what people assume about you, about us."

Eddie sighed. "Yes, I'm ambitious, but I would never hook myself to you to further my career." She squeezed his hand, sounding blunt. "When this assignment is over, I want to make sure the NYPD knows that I'm with you because I love you, and we are professional cops that do our jobs and do them well both individually and together." She turned her hand over, noting her engagement ring and smiled sounding emotional. "So, Jameson Reagan…will you marry me twice?"

Jamie smiled. "You don't even have to ask! Only pop can probably come on short notice though. The job keeps us all busy most of the time."

Eddie met his forehead with a loving smile. "Sorry I got upset about your courthouse idea, you just seemed so distant about the wedding itself at the time. I just stupidly thought you didn't care about it, but you were thinking past it to our family, and it's a good thing because it's here ten years sooner than we thought, so I'm apologizing to you because you were right."

Jamie smiled back, gratefully. "Thanks, but I think ahead that's all, my mind wanders a lot. It looks like it's rubbing off on you."

Eddie responded quietly. "For now, we've got our day jobs in about an hour."

Jamie nodded, sounding very passive. "Duty calls, I'm nervous…dad wants us to speak to the current academy class, I don't know about you, but I'm not a patient teacher."

Eddie climbed out of bed and smiled dismissively, wrapping herself around Jamie as best she could. Her inflection was consoling. "Yes, you are, you taught me even with all the times I made it difficult on you."

He shrugged off her praise. "You don't have to lie just because we're together." Jamie stroked her hair slowly getting rid of bed head, keeping a hand on her belly.

Eddie was blunt with a tilt of her head while she smiled. "I'm not; you were a great teacher! I would be a lesser cop if someone else had been my training officer, and we wouldn't be here." She kissed him deeply and then pulled back with a reluctant smile with her ring hand on her overly pregnant belly. "As much as I love the idea of collapsing back in bed and just picking up where we left off last night, we have a day job that we have to do. Now, I need to shower, and with my oversized stomach, I can't do by myself, not that I'm in pain, but I can't reach want I can't see."

Jamie smiled. "I was wondering when that would kick in; I'm happy to help."

Eddie smirked. "I bet you are but don't think about getting handsy we have somewhere to be and can't get distracted."

He grinned. "If you say so." Eddie shrugged nonchalantly at her fiancé and his predictable thoughts.

II

The Academy class was about 75 people; they all began curious whispering when Jamie and Eddie entered the room; neither of them paid any attention while getting situated as the instructor addressed the room.

Eddie whispered. "Everyone is looking at me; it's making me nervous."

Jamie's eyes fixed on her bump with a casual tone. "Better than the whispers."

Eddie smiled agreeably. "As far as these students know I'm just a pregnant former patrol cop, it's nice to be stared at because of something besides gossip." Jamie's expression showed laughter.

Once the instructor finished, Jamie and Eddie took his spot at the front of the room. He spoke first. "I'm Jamie Reagan, former patrol officer, and Sargent in the NYPD, now with 1PP as part of the PC's staff."

Eddie continued. "Same minus the Sargent part."

Jamie kept going feeling relaxed. "We have a combined 14 years of experience on the job, including five years as patrol partners."

Eddie rounded off everything. "We have also done a lot of undercover work."

Jamie nodded. "I'm sure most people who come to speak at the academy give a long-winded presentation and highlight a bunch of statistics about being with the NYPD and then leave, we're not going to do that."

The room grew excited as Eddie continued. "Instead this is a chance for you to ask any questions you have about working for the NYPD or 1PP."

Jamie continued rather anticipatory. "Before we open things up we'd like to address a couple of things; yes, I am one of those Reagan's, son of the PC, no questions are off-limits if you want to know what it's like working for the PC when it's also your father or grandfather I will answer those questions too. Don't feel intimidated out of asking questions just because a Reagan is standing up here."

Eddie finished up with a little levity. Same goes for my being pregnant, to save obvious questions, yes Jamie and I are together, getting married soon actually, this is all him." She held up her engagement ring. "If you want to know what it's like being with a cop that is open discussion too. The intention of us being here today is to provide a firsthand account of what it's like to work for the NYPD, and hopefully, you get a lot from it."

The first question was typical. "What made you want to become a cop?"

Jamie answered first. "Being NYPD is my family legacy… I wanted to run from that at; first, I was going to be a lawyer, but I lost my brother to a corrupt cop, and that inspired me to join the family legacy. Still, nine years on the job has made me love being a cop."

Eddie continued. "My path is also about legacy and family, but I wanted to distance myself from my father's federal fraud conviction and restore my sense of right and wrong, but you'll learn quickly that even as a cop that line is regularly blurred."

Someone else followed. "How dangerous can patrol be? I've heard it's mostly routine boring stuff."

Jamie answered, bluntly. "It can be boring and routine, but there are days it gets pretty dangerous too, you really can't anticipate what might happen in a given day. We have had everything from simple theft and domestic disputes to being targeted by hitmen, rapists, and other violent felons."

Eddie continued, "that's why your probation year is very important, I went in a bit too full of myself luckily my training officer knocked me down a peg or two helped me think more levelheaded. A good partner is important."

Someone was blunt. "I would think it makes more sense to look out for yourself."

Jamie burst his bubble harshly. "Sure, if you want to end up dead, a good partnership can mean the difference between life and death."

They ran through several personal experiences including the time Eddie ended up kidnapped, the time she was hung out to dry by every cop except Jamie while pinned down with Kara in stopping a store robbery and the Sorento incident where mere instinct saved Jamie's life. The class reaction was somewhat stunned.

A girl in the back swooned. "You've saved each other's lives, that is so romantic."

Eddie burst her bubble quickly. "Maybe from the outside or after the fact but it's terrifying when it is happening."

Someone else asked an adjacent question. "It's pretty common for partners to fall in love then?"

Eddie shook her head. "No, there are over 8,000 male-female partnerships in the NYPD, and for most of them, their relationship begins and ends while on duty. We were an exception, hung out after work too almost every day. We met because of the job, but I think Jamie agrees that we didn't fall in love because of it."

Jamie chuckled agreeably. "We butted heads all the time on duty the first few years, so in spite of it is more like it."

Eddie continued. "We did annoy each other on duty a lot. I think sometimes we both wonder how we even ended up about to be married with three kids on the way, but don't think for a second that the NYPD tolerates flings amongst cops or romantic entanglements spilling over into the job, you'll be separated on the spot if you cannot maintain professionalism."

Jamie continued more businesslike. "The patrol guide was recently updated to include something called the intangibles clause, guidelines for relationships disclosed to the NYPD with the desire to remain partnered or in the same house. At its core, the rule means that superiors judge service records against incidents stemming from issues caused by personal friction, things that affect the ability to do the job. I suggest reading through the details in the guide because sooner or later you're either fighting all the time or fighting your feelings if it's the latter you'll want to get out ahead of it."

The room nodded, and the questions continued. "What's it like to kill someone?"

They answered together. "It stays with you."

Jamie elaborated first. "My first incident was a suicide by cop, I didn't find out until after the fact, but they ran into a crowded area threatening to shoot. Protecting the general public in a dangerous situation should always be your number one priority. Every cop eventually feels the weight of making that split-second decision to fire their gun and take the chance on killing someone, if you can make it and get through the aftermath then odds are being a cop is something you can handle. Luckily only 5% of cops ever have to fire their weapon, and of that group, only 10% have a fatal result."

Eddie continued. "Don't think it won't affect you if you join that 10%, especially the first time. Therapy is mandatory after all fatal officer-involved shootings, and it took going through it to realize that it's mandatory for a reason, I checked out for days afterward, I wasn't even sure I could be a cop still, that's why a good partner is important." Eddie held Jamie's hand openly, and the class took notice. "It's the only reason both of us are alive to speak about being cops at all. The bottom line is that even if your partner is someone you can't stand you should be able to work effectively as a unit and if you can't then you need to request someone else, an effective partnership could save your life. Sure, we happened to fall in love on top of it, it's a nice bonus to a very stressful job."

Someone looked at Jamie as they raised their hand. "So, you must have had a head start when you joined the NYPD?" They turned to Eddie too. "And falling in love with a Reagan must've had perks?"

Eddie tightened up like she always did when people assumed about her and Jamie. She was blunt. "Not even close, Jamie was my training officer, and even though we'd kissed off duty six months into being partnered, he still never hesitated to call me out." The class did not seem convinced, Eddie continued. "It's true; he's never treated me any different after we got engaged and he got promoted he wasn't afraid to give me a rip and made me call him Sargent."

Jamie was also blunt. "Being a Reagan doesn't have perks on the job because my father doesn't believe in helping his family move up the ladder or get out of jams we cause."

Eddie quipped with levity. "Kind of sucks for me." The class laughed.

Another question came. "What do you like more being on patrol or undercover?"

Eddie answered the first time. "I think I only liked patrol because of Jamie. My most recent partner before we left the NYPD turned out to be a dirty cop, and it reminded me that I was really lucky on the first draw. There is a lot of petty stuff cops deal with regularly, and if you don't get as lucky as me with a partner, it can be extra frustrating and dull. Undercover work is more dangerous, but it's also more fulfilling because you're almost always affecting things on a larger scale."

Jamie thought for a moment. "I like them both, stuff at street level can be a lot more personal, and it's not always dull, but undercover jobs have a lot more freedom as far as operations are concerned."

Someone at the very front spoke. "If both jobs are so fulfilling than why trade it for sitting behind a desk?"

Eddie's hand moved to her stomach while she answered. "We've got three daughters on the way soon, chasing after perps doesn't mix too well with raising a family, so for the foreseeable future, we're hanging up our uniforms."

Jamie concluded. "Who knows, many of you could see us again as fellow cops, hopefully, you kept in mind everything we talked about today, and you'll be out there on the street in no time, I hope it helped to hear the perspectives of former cops and partners as you aim to join the greatest police department in the world."

The instructor ended things after a light round of applause. Jamie and Eddie decided to let the room empty before leaving. A female voice called aloud with them in mid-conversation as the last handful of recruits made their way to the exit.

She was excited. "Jamie!"

Jamie looked in her direction. "Um did you have another question or something?"

She smiled slightly disappointed. "You don't remember me, do you?"

He looked like he was thinking hard. "Got a hint?"

She leaned forward as she spoke again. "Laura Peck, you saved me from being kidnapped twice nine years ago, you've come a long way since you were a rookie from everything I heard today."

Eddie faked disappointment. "So, you've had experience saving women from being kidnapped. I thought that was exclusive to me."

Jamie laughed, showing recognition now. "Weird thing to want exclusive to you Eddie. He looked at Laura with a curious expression. "Weren't you moving far away for a job, how did you wind up back in New York and joining the police academy?"

Laura sighed with a subdued smile. "Abu Dhabi turns out that when your father gets off scot-free with hundreds of millions of dollars, trouble follows you anywhere, after nine years, I got sick of hiding and decided to fight back. I never forgot what you did for me, and it inspired me, so here I am."

Eddie wasn't surprised. "My fiancé has a way of inspiring people, and it's a big reason we are where we are now." She shrugged. "Besides I can relate, my father had similar obsessions with money, and it landed him in jail."

Laura nodded. "Well if Jamie is as good a parent as he is a bodyguard, those daughters you are about to have are in great hands, but the streets will be a lot less safe without you both on the job. Those stories were incredible!"

Jamie smiled gratefully. "Something tells me that you'll be top of the class."

Eddie sounded friendly yet blunt. "I'm happy that you did not come back until after Jamie and I were together."

Laura was confused. "Why?"

Eddie smiled. "Because I would have been jealous that Jamie was someone else's bodyguard." Eddie laughed in a laid-back way. "Don't worry; I'm just nosy about the women in his past."

Jamie nodded. "A little too much, though she doesn't like to admit it."

Eddie blushed. "I just can't help it." Jamie squeezed her gently.

Laura smiled. "You two seem completely in sync."

Eddie smiled. "We are, on the job, but in life, …we are still figuring that part out as we go."

Jamie nodded. "We've both had dense and stubborn moments as a couple which is not surprising considering we had the same thing as partners, but we should get going, if you have questions or need advice after you are on the job we can try to help, but I think you will be fine."

Eddie nodded. "For now, just focus on graduating; the rest will come with experience and a good teacher." She leaned on Jamie's shoulder while he kissed her forehead.

Laura was curious. "Anyone notable, besides you two of course."

They knew without hesitation. "Anthony Renzulli, 12th precinct." Jamie continued. "I will talk with my dad to see if I can get that set up in advance, but it doesn't matter if you don't graduate."

Laura nodded. "I plan on it, thank you, both of you." They nodded.

They left the room separately. Jamie shrugged. "That went well."

Eddie nodded, her head still against his shoulder. "See, I told you that you were a good teacher!"

Jamie gave a playful response. "I'd have to be, to keep you in line."

Eddie shot back bluntly. "You're about to have three times as much of me to deal with soon. You sure you're ready for that?"

Jamie felt Eddie's stomach as they walked, eventually exiting the academy building. "Definitely!"

III

After the rest of the workday, during which Frank had a successful meeting to rework Governor Mendez's crime bill, Jamie and Eddie did something they had neglected to this point…shop for baby necessities. They returned to their place with all manner of things, from diapers and clothes to three distinct baby carriers and three cribs.

Eddie was pressing something they had been talking about somewhat heatedly all the way home. She sounded irritated. "Why are you stubborn about this!"

He responded bluntly. "I am wondering the same thing."

Eddie continued. "Because at all my appointments the doc says I'm healthy, the only thing that's finally showing up is back pain but given how much extra weight I'm carrying that's normal. Besides, I don't want to give birth at the hospital; It is chaotic. I want to be alone, just the five of us."

Jamie pressed. "Exactly, five of us."

Eddie turned soft. "Please, you're going to deliver anyway, I hate hospitals, and we both like to keep to ourselves."

They sat down on the couch, and Jamie was blunt. "I think the pregnancy is sapping blood from your brain and its three times as bad."

She burst into tears. "Way to be a jerk, Reagan, I'm already fat, and now you're calling me stupid!"

He recovered quickly. "No, it's just we're having triplets, and I don't want anything to happen."

Eddie sniffed as she continued. "I'm going through labor. I want to have them at home, with just you around. We can bring people to us, but I don't want to spend my labor in a hospital."

He looked at her anxiously. "Eddie…" Jamie hated it when she cried because he couldn't stand seeing her upset. It rarely happened, and unlike other times, he knew hormones were all over the place, and he couldn't say no because it would upset her even more. He sighed deeply knowing it was a losing battle. "Alright, just us…but I have the doctor on speed dial in case something happens."

She sniffed gratefully. "Thank you; I hate hospitals. I watched my brother code in one from a drug overdose, my father got nearly beaten to death, I took a bullet in the vest and a fraction of a moment away from getting shot in the head, and you fought for your life in a coma. So, I guess this is like you with fraternal organizations, irrational but I cannot help it."

Jamie nodded. "I always forget about your brother; you never mentioned him specifically; you just told me that he was older and died. That's the first time you told me how."

Eddie calmed down now. "We hate him for not even trying to get clean, that's why we never mention him. I begged him for years as a kid, but he never kicked the habit…died just before I entered high school. I'm the one who took him off life support because my mother was too destroyed to do it, and my father wasn't even capable of showing his face."

Jamie sighed. "So, when I was in a coma…"

She sighed. "That knife in my throat feeling wasn't just because you got shot. I know it's stupid and irrational, but I don't want our daughters born where the line between life and death is so thin, a place that for both sides of our family tips closer to death than life."

Jamie nodded in somber agreement. "For us, it was my mother first; cancer left her so fragile, she barely had the energy to talk by the end. Then, Joe, he fought like hell to stick around, but by the time he was at the hospital, he'd lost too much blood, then Linda. Danny is stubborn about medical treatment because he can't stand the hospital now." Jamie gave a long sigh. "I'm not giving birth, so if you don't want a hospital; we won't do a hospital but, you're on house arrest until after they are born."

Eddie negotiated. "Alright, that's fine since I seem to be getting larger every second anyway, but after our first wedding."

Jamie agreed. "Then we do it tomorrow."

IV

The next afternoon they were at the courthouse. Frank was absent because being PC did not allow him to abandon his job in the middle of the day. That was the case for every other Reagan except Henry, the Regan siblings were knee-deep in cases and could not spare time for an informal ceremony they would attend formally in the future; the kids were in school. Eddie wore the most elegant clothes she had that would fit her growing belly, a just bought silver dress similar to the one she wore when she and Jamie went to the wedding a few years ago; this was a long gown though, making her look truly like a princess.

Waiting to be called, Jamie addressed his grandfather extremely grateful. "Thanks for being here pop."

Henry nodded. "Benefits of being retired."

There was a call. "Jameson Reagan, Edit Janko."

Eddie smiled. "Ready Boy Scout?"

Jamie nodded. "I've been ready for a long time!"

They talked about it briefly, but Jamie and Eddie decided not to recite their vows. They were going to have a formal wedding before too long anyway, that may as well be part of it. Most of the time, they did not care about PDA, and they were not crazy about being overly romantic, except amongst themselves.

After the opening remarks, Jamie and Eddie were left to speak. Eddie smiled at Jamie sounding nonchalant. "You want to get all sappy or just cut to the chase?"

Jamie smiled from ear to ear. "You've been my work wife for over five years, today work and wife become a reality, and I couldn't be happier about it!"

Eddie smiled brightly, putting emotion in her words as she spoke. "I'm so glad I finally get to call you my husband for real, it took way too long."

The officiant seemed to know there was no point in bothering to go through the question of if they took each other as husband and wife, directing them to exchange rings and making the usual formal declaration.

"By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife; you may kiss the bride."

Jamie exhaled like a weight was lifted looking at Eddie. "Finally!" He carefully grabbed her around the back, gently pulling her into a deep, lingering kiss.

Eddie responded tenderly as the kiss ended. "You are stuck with me now, partner!"

Jamie grinned. "That's fine by me, Mrs. Reagan."

Henry gave heartfelt congratulations. "I'm so happy for you both."

Jamie hugged his grandfather with a grateful smile. "Thanks pop, glad you could be here."

Eddie hugged Henry with a smile. "Yeah Thank you, we know that it's probably unorthodox to do two weddings but under the circumstances…"

Henry shook his head; he was dismissive. Don't worry about it; every bride should be able to enjoy her wedding and fit into their dress, you can't do either if you are pregnant."

Eddie smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Henry. We'll take you home before my doctors' appointment; hopefully this one goes well like the rest of them."

V

The appointment went well. The doctor noted Eddie's size testing her flexibility with carefully controlled stretches, nothing that was uncomfortable. Her back responded well; still, the doctor said that if Eddie started feeling regular physical pain when moving throughout the day, she was to go on partial bed rest immediately as a precaution and total bed rest with any belly pain whatsoever that was not related to baby movement. She also checked the babies themselves, pleased with their positioning and growth shown with the latest ultrasound. Though she made no effort to hide her disapproval that Eddie wanted to avoid the hospital.

Eddie was still irritable when they got home, scoffing as they walked in the door. "Did you see the way she gave me that judgmental stare?"

Jamie shrugged. "Doctors are paid to give the facts and multiples are high-risk triplets or more than that, especially. She would not be doing her job if she did not mention things like that."

Eddie nodded with a dry response. "That did not bother me; it's looking at me like I'm an idiot because I don't want to be in a hospital." She continued very bluntly. "Women gave birth all the time long before hospitals or drugs existed anyway."

Jamie sighed as they sat down on the couch, he shrugged smiling. "Can't argue with that, Jesus was born in a stable on a bale of hay."

Eddie hugged Jamie as close as she could manage with her sizable belly, sounding relaxed now. "Exactly, I'm probably going to end up on bed rest anyway. It makes no sense to drag myself to the hospital once I'm actually in labor, doctors can come to me if need be." She looked at her stomach casually. "Besides, I don't expect to be comfortable much longer while they continue to grow in here and I could be miserable by then anyway traveling would just drive me even crazier, no thanks."

Jamie smiled and kissed Eddie's forehead. "There's that old saying, happy wife happy life."

Eddie's mood brightened suddenly. She stared at Jamie with a rare girlish look. "Wife, we're finally married."

Jamie smiled. "You seem shocked."

Eddie let her head fall casually on his shoulder with a quiet response. "Maybe a little, I was afraid we would never get here." She kissed him tenderly. Her smile was evident. "Looking back, I don't know how I was content without this for so long." She locked hands with Jamie squeezing gently.

He sighed in agreement, shrugging his shoulders while staring at their wedding rings. "Ignorance is bliss I guess; it's not like patrolling the streets of New York City left much time to deal with us."

Eddie looked at Jamie subdued. "Do you think we could run a precinct together when this mess with Ortiz is over?"

Jamie was surprised. "I thought you would want to be back on patrol. I heard that the 2-9 has been hectic lately both in house and on the street."

Eddie hesitated. "I'm reconsidering that now that we will have three kids soon. I find it hard to believe that catching Ortiz won't come with a promotion or two. I think we would be good together, besides if I'm equal rank and we're married, it eliminates any political gray area." She became practical. "Besides, the fact is that lesser time on the street is safer anyway, and from what we heard from 1PP, the intangibles clause has rolled out successfully."

Jamie kissed her forehead. "Let's not worry about this until we have to; we're still undercover. I know it's not your dream honeymoon, but we could go to our home away from home and stay there for, a week or two since we're undercover anyway."

Eddie liked the idea, she grinned. "That sounds nice!"

Jamie played with her hair absentmindedly. He nodded. "I will talk to dad, and I will make sure that after our formal wedding we go on a real honeymoon."

Eddie closed her eyes, responding in a quiet, yet emphatic whisper. "Where doesn't matter, but if you insist, maybe someplace with a warm climate."

Jamie smiled. "We'll do whatever you want."

Eddie kissed him briefly, pulling back with a sigh. "Right now, I want to get out of these clothes, let me change before we go."

Jamie called after her as she entered the bedroom. "Need help in there?"

She called back playfully. "Even if I didn't, you don't have to stay away anymore, Reagan." She finished sheepishly. "I will gladly take your offer, just in case."

Jamie shrugged, laughing to himself as he went after his wife.

VI

Ultimately, Frank permitted the prolonged stay in The Hamptons saying that Baker was going stir crazy anyway. He openly admitted that it was in the interest of more quickly bringing down the Ortiz crime family. He apologized for his inability to attend their legal nuptials but looked forward to the formal wedding after the triplets are born. Free of worrying about anything except bringing down their assigned targets, the undercover newlyweds took themselves to their home away from home. After they arrived, Jamie disappeared for some time while Eddie watched SportsCenter in the large living room.

Eddie smiled as Jamie reappeared, she was blunt. "Philly is going to win the chip this year, the best team in the NBA."

Jamie chucked. "Nope don't think so, they don't know how to finish. Strong talent but need a better coach that makes smarter in-game decisions. "

Eddie rolled her eyes with an air of competitive attitude. "Well, it's not the Knicks or Nets have a shot so who do you think, Warriors again?"

Jamie shook his head. "Raptors, deep talented and flying under the radar, Kawhi Leonard is a three-peat killer, did it to Miami and Finals fatigue is catching up with the Warriors, it would be nice if the NBA becomes a bit unpredictable again."

Eddie nodded, turning her attention elsewhere. She was curious. "Is there some reason you're just standing in the archway instead of sitting down?"

He smiled teasingly, offering her his hand to help her off the couch. "I do have a reason, but I get distracted every single time I lay eyes on you, especially now that you are my wife and the mother of my children."

Eddie took it, eying him with a suspicious grin. "Oh boy, so much flattery, what are you up to Jameson?"

Jamie chuckled dismissively. "Follow me, Edit." She rolled her eyes, smiling as he led her through the house.

Eddie was more curious as they walked. "You know, I always think about legally changing my name to Eddie since my parents are the only people who call me Edit."

Jamie smiled as her head dropped against his shoulders. "You can do whatever you want."

She shrugged. "I think my mother would never speak to me again, which is at times, appealing." He laughed. She tried flattering him into revealing what he was doing. "Now about what you are up to, spill or I will make you talk."

He caved as they continued walking, eventually coming to a stop in front of double doors. "Well, I know to celebrate is a bit excessive considering we're undercover, and we have a second wedding coming after the girls are born, but I thought of a honeymoon that you would enjoy…"

The door opened to reveal the dining room, lit by candlelight around a spread of Eddie's favorite foods and lemon water, which she was drinking every day now, the only thing fruit based that agreed with her since she got pregnant.

Eddie smiled from ear to ear, looking at her husband, melting with a glow on her face. "Jamie, an all you can eat buffet!"

Jamie guided her quietly to a seat and sat next to her; he smiled. "I called ahead from several of the usual places we hang out after work. Not quite all you can eat, but we shouldn't have to go out for your favorite foods for quite a while, even with the way you eat."

Eddie rolled her eyes with a thin smile on her face. "It's a good thing I'm used to your cracks about how much I eat; I'm starving." She wasn't shy about piling food on her plate.

Calling the spread a buffet was an understatement. Several kinds of chicken, wings, ribs; pasta galore, tacos, pizza. Sides, including mozzarella sticks, salad, chips, pretzels. Pretty much whatever they ate when going out after work was there and Eddie took advantage of the spread.

Jamie chuckled. "I'm serious; our family may spend a lot of money on food for the next eighteen years. I will have to put my law degree to good use and retire from the NYPD in favor of a high paying job if the girls get your appetite."

Eddie seemed subdued like she wouldn't mind that. "Would that be so bad. Our work is so dangerous, and when I think about the possibility of not returning to these girls." She rubbed her very large bump absentmindedly with a deep breath. "It scares me so much."

He nodded, his tone gentle and reassuring. "I know but going down that rabbit hole won't help anything, stress is bad for all four of you, and I'm worried that leaving the field will drive you crazy, especially when bed rest comes, you can't do nothing."

Eddie tilted her head. "I'm just glad I'm not confined to a bed, yet. I knew that the pregnancy would catch up with me, couldn't defy the norm forever." Eddie ate four large helpings of the varying food before she was full, apologetic for the infrequent belches that escaped her along the way. "I know I love to eat, but I think our daughters were calling the shots here."

Jamie laughed, having just finished only a second plate of food. "That doesn't surprise me, good thing the feds are footing our bill, or rather the Riordan's bill."

She wore a gauging look with a smile. "Still planning the future, that doesn't surprise me."

He shrugged. "I plan to save as much of the food as possible unless you eat everything tonight."

She smirked. "Very funny Jamie."

Jamie was nonchalant. "I always have fun with that one." He smiled, squeezing her hand. "Now, how are the four of you?"

Eddie dropped her head on his shoulder, absentmindedly a smile on her face. "We're good; it's been a long day, though."

He kissed her forehead and rubbed her belly gently, his tone loving. "Why don't you relax while I put the food away."

Eddie nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I think I'll take a bath, that master bathroom is worth a try anyway." She kissed him deeply and pulled back with a loving look deep in her eyes. "Thank you for this all you can eat buffet."

Jamie nodded, lost in his wife's eyes. "Anything for you."

VII

Eddie drifted off laying in the tub, eventually being roused gently by Jamie.

She responded quietly. "All finished? " He nodded. She smiled. "I don't even know how long I was out?"

Jamie sat on the rim of the tub with a smile. "It's been a while since I heard the water running, so it's been more than half-hour." He gave her a praising look. "You look good covered in bubbles."

Eddie gave him a teasing look. "You know, the tub is big enough for two, how about you join me in here?" She smiled. "I know how you look shirtless already anyway."

Jamie chuckled. "Only because you always made sure to catch me changing into street clothes."

Eddie was defensive. "You think I planned to catch you only half-decent after 12 hours on shift?"

Jamie sounded rhetorical. "You always wanted me, that secret was out by your admission while we were conceiving our daughters. Don't get me wrong I did too, which is why I'm glad the tub is big enough for two." He removed his clothes and hopped carefully into the tub, kissing his very pregnant wife.

Eddie sighed quietly rubbing her husband's chest. "I was thinking about the assignment. I can't be in the thick of it anymore, but this pregnancy does give me the perfect excuse to gain Jenna's trust, it could be useful and pregnant or not I cannot do nothing because it would drive me crazy."

Jamie nodded. "I think that's a great idea."

She watched him with a longing expression. "The quicker we finish this, the better." She changed the conversation. "How are you feeling?"

Jamie shrugged. "I'm managing…breathing is a little easier, and I'm not getting motion sickness as much. You're still doing better than me, though."

Eddie sighed lazily. "I think my size is finally catching up with me. The longer I stand, the more my back hurts, and I swear I feel like I have gotten even bigger today."

Jamie held a hand to her belly with a gauging look. "Then, that means our daughters are growing, which is good."

She chuckled. "They grow much bigger. I'm worried I will pop. Triplets usually come six weeks sooner, maybe earlier. It's hard to believe I'm not six months along yet even though that's how I look."

Jamie grinned. "You look beautiful!"

Eddie smiled, gratefully her inflection was flattered. "Thank you, because I feel like a beached whale and still have a while to go."

He was sympathetic. "Anything I can do?"

Eddie was suddenly forward. "Sex in here could be fun; it's big enough to experiment."

Jamie smiled. "Well it is the first of two honeymoons, and we might as well have fun in this house while we are using it for this job."

The tub was big enough for them both move around in and they quickly found a comfortable position with Eddie straddling Jamie laying down. The result was fun with a focus more on stimulation, and it helped that Jamie was good with his hands.

After they finished, Eddie turned sheepish. "Help me out of the tub."

Jamie got out first, getting towels and helped Eddie out too. He looked at her expectantly. "Tired?"

Eddie was mostly dry now and shook her head, sounding anything but tired. "Why would I be tired when this is a low-key honeymoon, that was just the first round." She abandoned her towel and pulled his off with a smile.

They slowly made their way to the master bedroom across the hall locked in a passionate kiss, about to spend the rest of the evening, making love as newlyweds.

VIII

Jamie and Eddie's low key honeymoon restored their tolerance for the undercover mission of taking down Ricky Ortiz's massive drug operations. They decided once and for all to extend hospitality to everyone and invite them to their home.

Eddie took the opportunity to give the invitation through Jenna since they exchanged numbers. She was quite casual and breezy beginning conversation. "Hey, Jenna it's Ellie Riordan, how have you been doing?

Jenna recalled brightly. "I remember, hi Ellie, how are you?"

Her reply was indifferent. "Still pregnant and getting bigger by the day. Listen, do you want to come to our house this evening? Please give the invitation to the rest of your family too."

Jenna was quizzical. "Even Erik?"

Eddie laughed. "Yes, but I won't hesitate to shoot him if he irritates me."

Jenna laughed sadly. "Believe me; you would be doing us a favor. Thanks, Ellie, I'll tell dad and get back to you."

Eddie was nonchalant. "Okay, my husband has me on house arrest until this pregnancy is over now, so I'm available anytime." They bid farewell and hung up.

Jamie came up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her belly, squeezing it gently. "How are my girls feeling today?"

Eddie smiled, touching his face. "We're all doing just fine." She turned around with a casual tone. "Just called Jenna Ortiz, she's going to extend our invitation to the rest of her family."

Jamie nodded in deep thought. "Well, that's the easy part. Now, how do we find out where this mountain of drugs without showing our hand?"

Eddie sighed. "Alcohol will help, but I am starting to think that since we still haven't seen any drugs, they are in multiple places." She was a bit anxious. "I just think if they were in one spot, we would have seen them already."

Jamie nodded agreeably. "Maybe we can find out if Ricky owns any more property besides the gallery, the restaurant, and the warehouse. The Hamptons is close to the water; maybe there is something else, Danny can attest to things like boats making useful storage."

Eddie sighed. "Well, it's going to be harder to crack Erik considering we've both spooked him, and his father seems like he could kill him without much remorse."

Jamie sighed. "These situations are when throwing ourselves into the cover is important."

Eddie nodded. "Here's to the Riordan's."

IX

The family accepted the invitation so that evening the Riordan's hosted a party for the most infamous crime family in New York. Ricky admired the house as they walked through a tour, settling in the living room.

He was casual. "You have a classic home; I can see why you wanted to find the right job to keep it."

Jamie raised his glass. "That's why we wanted to have you over, as a thank you for bringing us aboard."

Ricky tilted his head and drank from his glass. "Of course, it's hard to find good help these days." He cast a look at his oldest son.

Erik scoffed. "Always me, huh, dad."

Jenna cut in abruptly. "Haven't you heard, you're the screw-up child Erik, there's one in every rich family."

Erik nodded. "I've been helping for five years, two people come along, and I play second fiddle."

Ricky sighed. "You never quite learned how to stay out of trouble."

Jenna smiled. "Look on the bright side big brother, Ellie is pregnant, so you get some time as first string again."

Ricky nodded. "If you handle yourself, I will be a lot more favorable."

Erik nodded casually. "Alright."

Jenna looked at Eddie's enlarged baby bump, rather captivated. "How are you doing Ellie? You're a lot further along than the last time I saw you."

Eddie shrugged. "I guess I am, but it's annoying looking further along than I am, about five months now." She chuckled. "Still, it's more annoying Jimmy put me on house arrest until they are born."

Jamie held her hand. "Babe, I'm not taking any more chances after that last deal turned messy, you could have gotten killed."

Eddie sighed. "I know but who will watch your back lamb-chop?"

Jamie smiled. "Ellie, I'm sure Ricky's security will be more than enough."

Ricky nodded reassuringly, "Yes, don't worry Ellie, Jimmy is good hands."

Eddie nodded reluctantly and casually changed subjects. "So what do you do in your free time?"

Ricky leaned back. "I should be asking you that. The two of you don't strike me as the gushy romance couple."

Eddie laughed. "No, not really, but Jimmy can be charming when he wants to be, he proposed at mini golf in the city."

Ricky smiled. "Golf, a precision sport."

Jamie shrugged. "I do like it in my downtime, fishing, and sailing too."

Eddie nodded. "When he's not taking care of his Chevelle."

Ian finally spoke. "A classic car, I prefer the Impala myself."

Ricky chuckled. "That's because you're a Supernatural fan, I never liked how people just believe that those boys are feds, but it's an hour show about hunting things that people don't think exist, so I digress."

Ian shrugged. Fifteen years will have been a long time, people like simple."

Jenna chuckled. "That show stopped being simple six years in if you ask me."

Jamie shrugged. "We watch ESPN, don't have time for scripted TV."

Ricky nodded, "Business is good, but smart business key."

Jamie nodded. "Any other properties besides what we've seen?"

Ricky shrugged. "We have some woodlands, and some boats, and security building, though I say that loosely, it's more like Ian's clubhouse."

Jamie shrugged. "Maybe we can see them sometime?"

Ricky nodded. "Maybe, although you're already familiar with the woods near the warehouse, thanks to the mess with that lawyer, sorry about making you take care of her. I just thought it was a good test of your skin."

Jamie shrugged. "No problem, she didn't go down easy, but we took care of it, I think Ellie enjoyed pulling the trigger."

Eddie smiled. "Jimmy is always handling things; it was nice to return the favor for once."

Ricky finished his drink. His phone rang, he hung up a few minutes later, standing apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I just got word that the big drop we are waiting for could be happening much sooner, Jimmy why not come with us, you'll be taking part anyway."

Jamie nodded. "Fine, don't get too lonely while I'm gone, babe."

Eddie smiled. "I'll try, get back when you can."

Jenna looked at her father. "May I stay here?"

Ricky nodded casually. "If it's okay with Ellie, then I don't see why not."

Eddie replied brightly. "That's fine."

The men left together, leaving both women by themselves.

Eddie responded casually. "I cannot wait until my pregnancy is over."

Jenna shrugged. "Kids seem like a hassle anyway."

Eddie shrugged. "So does your dads business."

Jenna sighed. "He doesn't ever think it's going to catch up with him, but like anyone that breaks bad he thinks he's untouchable."

Eddie leaned forward sympathetically. "Have you talked to him?"

Jenna was dismissive. "And ask him to stop doing something that he's been doing since I was a toddler, that wouldn't go over well."

Eddie sighed. "You won't know until you try. Jimmy and I learned that the hard way."

Jenna sighed. "Not the kind of conversation I want to have, I've considering telling feds what I know when they came knocking over the years, but I never have."

Eddie played it very curiously. "He is so protective of you, how much do you know?"

Jenna shrugged leaning forward. "I'm the one that ends up babysitting Erik most of the time, catching his mistakes keeping track of everything."

Eddie nodded. "So you're like quality assurance?"

Jenna laughed. "Basically, not in the thick of it, but still involved." She was downcast. "Dad insisted, so I could be prepared to handle things if I have to. Little does he know I could care less. If he knew what I want, I think he would kill me."

Eddie raised her eyebrows. "What do you want?"

Jenna tilted her head. "To be a cop."

Eddie could not believe her luck. Still, she played her continued to play her cover. "I can see why you have toed the family line. Have you always wanted to be a cop?"

Jenna smiled. "No, but my best friend was killed for a gang initiation right before I started high school and ever since then I cannot stand the crime life, but family loyalty and all that. My mother is the same way."

Eddie sighed. "A piece of advice, loyalty is earned whether or not your family and being family doesn't make it a given."

Jenna shrugged. "Don't let my father hear you say that. Listen, Ellie, if this blows up in my his face don't hesitate to save yourselves."

Eddie was dismissive. "Don't worry about us; Jimmy knows how to escape unscathed. I'm more worried about you."

Jenna shrugged again. "Don't worry about me, as long as I am playing the dutiful daughter dad won't notice anything. I'm waiting for the right moment to blow this up; I'm not getting dragged down with my family's crimes."

Eddie made a decision, she wrote down her actual number but fell short of offering details, dropping her fake inflection. "Jenna, don't do anything crazy, keep this number with you in a safe place. It's my private cell phone."

Jenna nodded, raising her eyebrows. "Okay, hang on, are you after my father's monopoly?"

Eddie shook her head. "No, It's just Jimmy, and I have a habit of trying to save every puppy in the pound. We've dealt with a lot of tragedy ourselves."

Jenna pressed. "What are you not telling me, Ellie?"

Eddie dodged the question. "For now just know that I hated living in my father's shadow too."

Jenna nodded. "If you're working on something, let me help."

Eddie tempered her. "Not yet." She was quizzical. "Can I ask why you told me this? I barely know you."

Jenna shrugged. "It's stupid, I see the way you and Jimmy are, I want that, and I don't think I will find it stuck in the shadow of my father's legacy."

Eddie smiled warmly. "That's not stupid, believe me."

Jenna smiled. "I get the feeling you and Jimmy are not who you say you are, but somehow I trust you anyway."

Eddie nodded. "As I said, I understand better than you think, so if you make any moves, let me know, Jimmy will watch your back."

Jenna stood up and hugged her. "Thank you, Ellie, if I'm lucky the drop was moved up and I'll be one step closer to getting out of this hell hole and living my own life."

Eddie wanted to disclose the full truth to Jenna, but the timing wasn't right, not with the major operation apparently up in the air. Still, that didn't stop her from wondering what was going on with Jamie since he left with the rest of the family.

X

Jamie did not know if it was a blessing or a curse that the major transport they had been waiting for was happening right now.

Ricky was nonchalant about the whole thing. "That's what happens when you're in the major world of drug dealing Jiminy; I hope you're ready to do this now!"

Jamie shrugged. "I just find it fishy that it was scheduled for summer and was moved up, could be a bad sign."

Ian sighed. "Someone is on to us, and moved things up to try and throw us off, you still ready to highjack trucks.

He nodded. "If that's what it takes, can I let Ellie know what's going on, she already had to deal with me getting shot working security and landing in a coma. If she doesn't find out about this until after the fact, she will kill me."

Ricky nodded. "We will be within the range of the trucks in 10 minutes, make it quick."

Eddie was scared and frustrated, and just about everything that a pregnant undercover cop who was acting like a mobsters wife could be hearing that they were minutes away from hijacking a moving vehicle with armed gangsters.

Jamie hung up the phone looking anxious. "Yeah, she's panicking, we need to do this ASAP."

Ricky tempered him. "Haste won't help anything." He addressed everyone now. "Bruce, Wayne, you go in front and behind, Jimmy you scope the route for numbers and then catch up; with Ian, Erik will be driving the truck, and should things get hairy I will provide cover fire from my chopper."

Jamie nodded. "That explains why you are not in the truck with us, sir."

Ricky was blunt. "Watch yourselves!"

Jamie soon felt like he was in the climax of an action movie. The road opened up into a back alley of sorts, or as back alley as The Hamptons had. After a while trucks started to come into view quickly, three in all and eventually everyone was running even with them.

A familiar voice called out angrily. "Dammit, it looks like we've got company, Ricky knew that we were switching the transport to tonight!"

A second unfamiliar voice replied casually. "Tell those who are armed to climb the ladders of the trucks and watch for anyone coming!"

The familiar voice replied quickly. "Okay, I will handle this one, just radio everyone driving to stay focused we have a while to go before we get there!"

Jamie was blunt. "We'll have to do this without the element of surprise, they've already got people manning the top of their trucks trying to scope us out!" Jamie squinted through his binoculars, swearing he'd seen one of them before, but it was tough to tell from so far away.

Ricky called an audible. "So be it, Wayne, Bruce split up, Jimmy it looks like you'll have to get your hands dirty, hope your lungs can handle the rush!"

Jamie readied his gun, talking over the radio bluntly, as others followed suit. "That's why I'm here sir, but wouldn't it be easier just to wait until they get where they are going!"

Ricky scoffed. "Where the rest of them will be waiting, bad idea."

Wayne handed him an assault rifle. "Take this, Jimmy; it will help."

Ricky was blunt. "Since they already know we're here, I'll draw their attention, provide as much of a distraction for taking their trucks as I can!"

Ian spoke up. "I've hacked their radio frequency, personal hotspots do come in handy.

Jamie was angry, the one bitching about not bringing along RPGs is Jake Singer, the bastard was in jail for nearly raping my wife until your friend Gallo helped him out of it!"

Ricky was indifferent. "That makes now the perfect chance for revenge. Here we go."

Undercover from the chopper, they carefully boarded the first in the line of trucks they were targeting. Unfortunately just when they made it a sniper took out the chopper gun.

Ricky cursed. "Damnit, they must have high energy rifles, I'm not staying up here, move the truck in position for me to land on the truck, and join you."

He hesitated. "Are you sure you can do that with goons watching everything?"

Ricky was blunt. "Well if I don't I'm dead anyway!"

Bruce cut in. "We will provide a distraction this time, sir, but get moving. There's very little cover on any of these target vehicles."

Jamie had just finished taking out two people, he replied dryly. "I swear if I don't make it home, I'm going to kill every one of you personally for being so stupid!"

Erik was blunt. "You came along Jimmy, and I call the shots, not you!"

Jamie scoffed. "The decision to jump the new transport route was as last minute as I've ever seen!"

Ricky ignored his gripe. "The product gets distributed once it's dropped off; I always planned to take it all at once the details just changed!"

Ricky had landed and joined Erik inside the truck.

Someone was still inside the chopper shooting an assault rifle at random everywhere friendly were not occupied.

Ricky issued instructions. "You're going to have to occupy each truck separately; someone has to drive them after their drivers are dead."

Jamie was blunt. "I'm going after Singer; he's in the lead truck!"

Erik chuckled. "Sure Jimmy, if you can make two more jumps, are you Superman?"

Jamie scoffed again. "Just cover me, after Singer's dead, I will worry about the driver and anyone else!"

Thankfully Jamie had some experience making sizable leaps across buildings. Still, never on moving vehicles. He timed one jump so that enemy fire was preoccupied with everyone else, taking cover behind the small barricade.

He shouted bluntly. "Give up!"

Jake was his usual smug self. "You first, do you think this is smart there are still people behind you, and you're friends look in trouble!"

Jamie turned off his radio, jumping to the last truck and responding bluntly. "What's wrong, you look shocked?"

He got flustered upon recognizing Jamie. "You, you were with that bitch that arrested me! What happened, realize it doesn't pay to be a good guy?."

Jamie ignored him; he was channeling his cover completely at the moment. "I think you have me confused with someone else!"

They didn't draw guns, perhaps because anger was driving them. It was a messy boxing match. Thankfully Jamie was used to boxing. It was a bit before Singer got tired, but eventually, he was overpowered and tackled to the ground before Jamie knocked him unconscious in a flurry and shot him in the head realizing he couldn't leave anyone alive, not that he was sorry about it.

When he turned his radio back on, he grimaced. "Dammit."

Ricky responded indifferently. "You went silent for a while."

He responded with unexpected fatigue. "Yeah well, that one was personal…sorry you guys didn't hear me kill him."

Wayne was blunt. "Those of us who've been keeping gunfire off your back had enough of a view. I didn't think you could fight that well, but now we need help; they had more help than we thought."

Jamie sighed. Give me a minute."

Ricky cut in bluntly. "We don't have a minute; they are just trying to run out the clock until they arrive at the drop-off, which is in less than ten minutes. Luckily I saved something for such a scenario, look up and enjoy the show, you're about to realize why you have parachutes."

A trio of armed drones came into view a few minutes later. Jamie chuckled, "I'm not even going to ask!"

Gunfire rained precisely along the top of the truck just after everyone jumped off, deploying the parachutes, and infiltrating the driver side of each truck in style, killing the occupant and taking control of all three trucks.

Ricky was ecstatic. "Good work, boys, now we take these trucks back to the warehouse parking lot!"

Jamie finally caught his breath and replied indifferently. "I take back what I said earlier, Ellie is going to love this one."

Jamie had to admit that being super-rich was probably extremely useful. It was not going to save Ricky's empire from crumbling when they finally took him down, little Jamie know that Eddie's hunch about Jenna had paid off, this assignment was nearing its end sooner than expected, a welcome change of luck considering what was waiting for them when it was over.

* * *

A/N: That's it I will try to make remaining updates for this story sooner rather than later, but the end is definitely on the horizon, I will probably take a breather before writing the sequel, but I have always planned to do it.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: The beginning of the end, reasonably quick at that. Not perfect, but since the end started forming in my mind, I just ran with it…I don't drag things out chasing perfection.

* * *

Jamie was relatively tired that morning. He addressed his wife casually. "Jenna wants to ditch her father's business and be a cop, are you sure?"

Eddie nodded with certainty. "She sounded like me after my father's arrest, disgusted and wants nothing to do with it. I was surprised, she's very convincing as the dutiful daughter."

Jamie kissed his wife feeling her stomach with a smile. "Okay, if it helps end this sooner Jenna is our best option, but we should let the DEA know where things are headed."

After Agent Molina was told what was going on Jamie and Eddie met with Jenna Ortiz to discuss things.

Jenna was impressed. "You two know how to play a cover, the stories I've heard in passing from the rest of my family…cops, that wasn't what I expected." She was curious. "Could you put in a good word when all this is over?"

Jamie tempered her. "You'd have to pass the police exam and get through the academy, but I would not think about that until after we bring down your father." He looked at her uncertainly. "Are you sure that you want to help us?"

Jenna was stone-faced. "Absolutely, my father is not a father he is a businessman, a corrupt one, and I don't want anything to do with him, what do you need from me?"

Eddie replied bluntly. "The DEA needs hard evidence of your father's stockpile and distribution of drugs, product, files, cash, anything you can provide." She sighed. "We haven't had any luck on our own."

Jenna was blunt. "You wouldn't, he is careful and never lets hired help lay eyes on anything evidence related, that's where I come in, I babysit Erik and have eyes on that stuff regularly, just give me some time to get it to you." She shrugged. "I would show you directly, but dad's antennas would go up if I brought you around too."

Jamie shook his head. "That's fine, I'm honestly worried about the danger this will put you in for the rest of your life, you may have to go into witness protection."

Jenna shook her head. "We cannot run away from weakness, we must fight it out, or perish and if that be so, why not now where we stand; Robert Louis Stevenson. I'm no coward and I'm not running." She smiled. "It is amazing how far apart from Jimmy Riordan you are Jamie Reagan, but then again it's not that surprising, your family is the antithesis of mine."

Jamie sighed. "You are older than your age, just be careful. I don't think your father will overlook us much longer when things turn, and they will let us know." He gave Jenna Agent Molina's contact info; his voice was blunt. "Then dial that number, it's our DEA contact, Agent Molina."

She nodded. "Okay, I will."

II

Jenna drove to the warehouse determined, emotionally detached from her father and brothers, she was going to bury them all (emotionally) never think of them again. She would effortlessly copy the ledger by hand, the physical proof of transactions centered around his business, years in a double-page binder. Jenna saw the ledger several times since turning 18 a year ago, acting as a spot checker against her idiotic oldest brother Erik, it would be easy to get her eyes on it again and she had an eidetic memory.

Jenna was smart and knew that the perfect time would be around 2 pm.

She entered the office room, Erik was there, Jenna casually greeted her older brother. "You look like hell."

Erik shrugged. "That's what happens when you hijack drug trucks in the dead of night…I'm going nuts checking the ledger."

Jenna was teasing. "I'm not surprised, you hate checking it. I'll do it. Is dad here?"

Erik was dismissive. "No, he said he needed to check something from last night with Ian. They didn't like that Jimmy turned his radio off, and he did seem like he had a personal beef with one of the dealers yesterday, was getting all uptight about the sudden change in plans."

Jenna was blunt. "His wife is almost six months pregnant, and he wasn't told that you were going after the drop when he agreed to come along after dad's last-minute phone call, I'd say he's entitled to be angry. He was the same way when you shot her, he takes things personally, I know something about that…"

Erick sighed, hardly sympathetic. "That was two years ago Jenna, you need to forget about it. She's gone…dad has told you the same thing plenty of times…it doesn't help to dwell on the past."

She scoffed. "Watching seeing my best friend get shot to death right in front of me." She was sarcastically dismissive. "Sure, because that's something I can just bury and forget about."

Erik got up, and held his sisters' shoulder briefly, soothing her halfheartedly. "Gangs are malicious Jenna. You are just lucky they did not kill you too, I'm going to check over the drugs we just acquired."

Jenna was strained. "They didn't kill me because my father is Ricky Ortiz. Trish wasn't anyone important, so they shot her and not me." She sat down at the desk and finished indifferently. "That weight won't go away…but you can, that way I can focus."

Erik tried to sound consoling. "If you need anything…"

Jenna was blunt. "Not from you."

It took a long time, but Jenna checked the whole ledger and found the specific information that she was looking for, taking time to memorize it, and then rewriting all this information separately into her own ledger, out of view of the security camera. It was a series of locations and codes for all the major stockpiles of drugs that the business acquired over most of its lifespan. After she finished, she put her ledger in the purse that she always carried with her and stashed the original ledger back in the safe, still sure to avoid the security camera and left, her purse on her shoulder. Other personal items of hers were in it, plus several of Trish's favorite possessions, and finally her own taser and gun. She shuddered at the thought of using the latter against her family, as screwed up as they were. She decided to stick around for a while to minimize suspicion, so she joined Erik at the garage to the warehouse where the vehicles were still parked from last night.

Erik greeted Jenna casually when he saw her. "So, everything okay with the ledger?"

She nodded. "Yup, you actually managed to update it properly this time, far cry from having to fix your mistakes like I usually do."

Erik scoffed. "Good, you can help me finish sorting all this, it's a lot." He sighed. "You know the drill, everything by name, and be extra careful with the fentanyl, the last thing we need is that spilling open."

Jenna was blunt. "Why would we keep that around?"

Erik was blunt too. "Not everyone that we deal with is trying to shoot up sis."

Jenna nodded. "Right, the others aren't back yet?"

Erik shook his head. "No, dad called, said he was meeting Gallo for information and would go from there. He wouldn't say anything else, but he was quiet, and you know it is never a good sign when dad is quiet. I have a feeling that the hired help is not who they say, if that's true it means I am not as dumb as this family thinks I am."

Jenna turned around and pulled her taser from her purse, set it to the max and spoke bluntly. "Actually, you are!" She hit her dense brother and he groaned in surprise before falling to the floor. He spoke in a strained and pained voice. "What are you…why?" He passed out.

Jenna was blunt. "I don't want to be dragged down with the rest of you." She sighed to herself. "I wasn't expecting to have to...but…dad suspects. I have to warn them and call their DEA contact!" She dialed Eddie's cell and left the warehouse through the garage.

III

The others showed up a few hours later, thanks to Jenna, Jamie and Eddie knew things would probably escalate quickly, but they had a plan. The hairy part was letting things play out until the right moment.

Ricky greeted them casually. "Jimmy, Ellie…I'm finally making good on my promise of an unannounced visit. May we come in?"

They were purposefully nonchalant. "Of course."

Sensing this wasn't a social visit Jamie led everyone silently to the dining room and they all sat down at the table. Jamie and Eddie both noticed who was absent, that did not sit well with them. Neither did Ricky's unreadable stare.

Jamie was friendly quizzical. "Where is Erik?"

Ricky turned soft in an irritating way. "Babysitting the warehouse, he is useful, but I like to keep him preoccupied as much as possible."

Eddie wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush, though she adopted a convincing whine instead of anger that she felt over the last-minute shift in plans that had her husband knee-deep in something out of Mission Impossible. "Can we not waste time, carrying three babies is finally catching up with me."

She must have let the frustration show on her face because Ricky wasn't fooled, he spoke with a gauging look and blunt tone. "That may be true, but your face says that you are really mad about last night."

Eddie adopted a light, but an obviously angry tone as her fake self. "You sound like I shouldn't be upset that you knew plans where switching last minute and didn't tell my husband when you know he has three daughters on the way."

Ricky sighed. "We do what the business dictates, that's why I have been calling the shots, and I did not like that you turned your radio off. It is extremely lucky that Ian is so smart and turned it back on, because something about last night was personal for Jimmy, and I decided to find out why your seething anger reared its ugly head again."

Jamie was blunt. "I told you why?"

He answered in a suddenly quiet tone. "Yes, you said he assaulted your wife…the problem, is that he seemed adamant that Ellie arrested him, and that you were there."

Eddie turned to Jamie shocked, sounding a little too much like herself, avoiding a name because she couldn't trust herself not to say Jamie at that moment. "He was there? Are you trying to kill me, using street justice on every man who attacks me?" She put her hand on her stomach sounding anxious and upset. "I've told you before, I…we need you around."

Jamie wanted to console her but trying to deflect Ricky was more important, so he only glanced reassuringly in her direction. His voice was indifferent. "Are you implying that we're stained blue, Ricky? That I am stained blue?"

He was blunt. "Arrest and cops usually go hand in hand. Now, we did check your identities thoroughly before we hired you, but since last night we've been doing more digging and there are some things I don't particularly like. For instance, you neglected to mention that you knew both Angelo Gallo, and Lenny Ross. They were quite forthcoming when I asked about you, Jimmy."

Jamie swore to himself. Still, they were not totally honest, or Ricky wouldn't be calling him Jimmy, nonetheless, it was an unfortunate issue. He wondered what else Ricky knew about now.

Jamie kept himself casual. "What did they say?"

Ricky was alarmingly nonchalant. "Mostly that you were not who you appear to be, it did reinforce the nagging doubt I have been having since last night. I didn't find much of anything in between the seven years when you were MIA, after Noble. Yet within the last year information everywhere, it feels fake, and my gut feelings are usually correct. I decided to start checking details you told us against the internet and what I found…well you both have very convincing doppelgängers."

Jamie remained indifferent. "So, people look like us, How I met your mother had five doppelgängers. What's the big deal?"

Ricky laughed. "The big deal is that your doppelgängers are cops. Now you could be separate people, but with what happened last night I decided to investigate who exactly arrested Jake Singer, the arrest report was entirely redacted, but Ian is very good at hacking, in fact, I nicknamed him the ghost long ago because he keeps himself invisible in cyberspace." He turned blunt again. "The arrest was made by one Edit Janko, and the accompanying officer, one Jameson Reagan."

Jamie was equally blunt. "Your point?"

Ricky spoke in a soft but unnerving tone. "We searched both those names and found nothing. From my perspective, the four of you have too much of nothing in common. Plus, I know for a fact that Edit Janko is the daughter of the man you worked for, not a coincidence I think."

He turned carefully impatient. "Yeah, I worked for the father of a cop, that does not mean I have anything in common with anyone that you have been telling us about."

He nodded. "True, but you know, when I start to notice multiple coincidences I just follow through, so I went to the source…he'd never heard of Jimmy Riordan, but Jamie Reagan is his daughter's fiancé and partner on the job for, five years, the same amount of time you two have been married." He sighed deeply. "You can see why I would be suspicious."

Jamie swore in his head again, Danny had been right…his lack of level-headedness when it came to Eddie was starting to undo everything. Or maybe it was just bad luck, it's not like he could have done anything about Singer recognizing him, either way, things were going to get a lot more dangerous.

Jamie made sure to sound agreeable. "Yeah but that's not our problem."

Ricky tapped his hand for a moment and then his phone rang. When he hung up, his tone was severely blunt. "My daughter is gone, would you two no anything about that?"

They were indifferent. "No, sir?"

Ricky sighed. "Then you won't mind coming back to the warehouse with us, both of you. Erik is saying that she tasered him and left. Besides, our conversation is not finished." They followed without question.

IV

They met in the part of the warehouse surrounded with windows. Erik was furious when Jamie and Eddie showed up with Ricky. He had an incredulous tone. "What are they doing here?"

Ricky tempered his oldest son. "Your sister is more important right now. What happened?"

He was only a little less angry. "Just what I said, I was talking about how you suspected those two of being cops…" He jerked his head to Jamie and Eddie. "…next thing I know she hit me with a taser and when I woke up, she was gone."

Ricky was blunt. "Ian, check the last few calls she made and see if you can track her by phone. In the meantime, I want to finish with Jimmy and Ellie." He directed Erik quietly. "Go check the ledger is safe where it should be." Erik nodded and left.

Jamie responded without any fear or anxiousness. "Sir, I told you already, we're not what you think we are."

Ricky was still quiet. "You know, you almost had me fooled, but you and Jamie Reagan have something in common that makes me think I inadvertently invited the scorpion in to sting me."

Jamie crossed his arms. "What's that?"

Ricky's eyes came to rest on Eddie. "Empathetic and sympathetic rage that comes from love so powerful that a person cannot stand to watch their loved one suffer." He was indifferent. "I never felt anything of the sort for Helena." He finished bluntly. "You could be exactly who you say you are Jimmy, what comes next will show me the truth." He nodded to Bruce and Wayne who grabbed Jamie and held him roughly in place.

Eddie could not keep the tension from her voice, though she did manage to keep the airy inflection of her cover identity. "What are you doing?"

Ricky answered in a dangerously calm voice. "Starting kindly."

Ricky walked to Jamie and punched him hard in the chest, he did not move because of being held in place, but it hurt, and it was clear that was exactly what Ricky wanted. Two, three, four, five more times.

Eddie felt anxiousness overtake her voice now. "Stop, stop dammit! He's not a punching bag!"

Ricky clearly disagreed, his voice rhetorical. "He's said nothing, silence is an indication of something to hide."

Jamie gave a half laughing, half groaning response. "You haven't asked me a question, sir."

Ricky nodded casually. "Fair point, why did you turn your radio off last night?"

Jamie was sarcastic. "I didn't realize you treat all your employees like babies and not just Erik, my mistake, sir." Ricky punched him again.

Eddie was privately panicky. _You are just trying to keep him attacking you to protect us…your girls need their father!_

Ricky continued as though Jamie said nothing. "I think you turned it off because you are Jamie Reagan and she is Edit Janko…your partner, in the NYPD…assaulted mere months into her first year on the job. I think you fell in love with her at that moment and she, you, though neither of you realized it at the time I'm sure."

Jamie just kept stalling his voice blunt, laughing still. "Look, Armin told me about her daughter while I worked for him. She's bossy, stubborn, and opinionated; not my type, so I'm not Jamie Reagan and she is not Edit Janko. It's called a coincidence; kind of like how your daughter is MIA." He was severely winded now. "Maybe you should worry about her and have a little more empathy for the fact that she watched her best friend get shot to death."

Ricky ordered his help to release Jamie. He spoke uncertainly. "She told you about that?"

Eddie spoke up now. "She told me, and I told Jimmy…do you not realize she hates you? Hates that you put all of this above her?"

Ricky was tense, they finally hit a sore spot. "Are you saying my daughter is the scorpion?"

Eddie sounded annoyed. "How blind can you be!"

Ian and Erik came back a moment later. The younger son spoke first and with certainty. "Jenna took the GPS chip out of her phone so we can't find her location, but I did manage to pull up her last few calls, one to an unknown number and one…" He fixed his eyes squarely on Eddie. "…to her."

Erik cut in quickly. "The ledger is exactly where it should be, maybe we're wrong all the way around…"

Ian shot back bluntly. "Not all the way around, they know something even if they are who they say they are…"

Erik replied aggravatingly. "Even if they are not cops, they could be after the business, their broke aren't they, used to rolling in money. It makes sense."

Ricky's voice was staggered and quiet now. "My patience…has reached its end. Erik, Ian restrain Jimmy. Bruce, Wayne…hold Ellie still, no reason to be overly aggressive, she cannot fight back without tiring herself given she is pregnant."

Jamie knew he couldn't fight off two people of that size at once…they were so close. Jenna said that if she appeared to be missing that her father would use his own methods to get information…dangerous for whoever was on the receiving end but would make the case for them if they got in real-time because she had already given the copied ledger to the DEA, they just needed evidence…they almost had it because her father was predictable when it came to her. Ricky left for quite a while and came back with gloves on and several bags of drugs on wheelable racks, he sat right in front of Eddie, looking unreadable.

However, his voice was dangerously low. "I'm sure you thought I was going to threaten you with a gun. I would have, but my you've already been shot once, and that kind of thing is not painful enough, and you are likely used to getting shot if you are a cop."

Eddie was terrified but had to let this play out if Jenna's theory about her father was correct. She responded quietly. "For the love of God, we're not—"

He talked past her. "At this point, it doesn't matter what you say, I'm going to torture you into telling me, who you really are, and where my daughter is though I suspect she has been flipped. Now, this is my own personal cocktail, it will leave you begging for death and certainly cause you to miscarry." He pulled out a very large needle and held it near her womb, still blunt. "This is ammonia and I have mixed with the slightest trace of certain choice drugs we use, just barely enough to make the person injected feel like they are being quickly ripped apart from the inside, more than on fire effect ammonia alone creates." He moved casually to her neck. "I will do the same thing to Jimmy if you choose to die, by then I will know who you really are and I will kill your father, your mother, and then, I will go after the reachable Reagan's."

Eddie pleaded quietly. "I swear, we aren't these people, Jimmy just can't help but insist on taking matters into his own hands…to protect me, protect us…please, please don't hurt my family!"

Eddie had not been a Reagan for long but only in the last several hours had she fully come to appreciate it. A family phrase for dealing with dangerous situations, working out of spots where you were backed into a corner…yes, being a Reagan was not even close to sunshine and roses as so many—herself included—assumed it was from the outside, but all the chaos was well worth being part of the family.

Gunfire split the air from both sides of the room. Bruce and Wayne took sniper fire to the back of the head, Eddie felt their grip die instantly and she moved just before they collapsed to the floor in front of Ricky. She made a mental note never to complain about being short again. Ian and Erik took tranquilizers to the back and despite trying to pull their guns, fell unconscious.

Jamie drew his gun just as Ricky grabbed Eddie. He sounded dangerously blunt. "Drop the needle Ortiz! With my brother and his partner outside, you have nowhere to go!"

Ricky didn't budge, he questioned Eddie sharply. "What did you say to convince her to flip?"

Eddie was anxious. "I did not have to say anything, she hates what you stand for, has been waiting for at least two years to upend your whole business. She was not stupid enough to steal the ledger so she copied it by hand. The DEA already has it and will raid everything you own, it's over. You will just increase an already lengthy sentence by attacking us."

Ricky simply continued questioning darkly. "How did you get people here undetected?"

Eddie gave a blunt aggravated response. "There is a silent tracker in my necklace." She just wanted to keep Ricky talking. "Are you really going to drug me just because you don't know your daughter?"

Jamie was blunt. "No, he won't because I will put a bullet in his head so fast."

Eddie shook her head. "She wants him alive and paying for his crimes."

Jamie nodded. "Fine, that doesn't mean he has to be in one piece." He shot Ricky in the knee and the man collapsed to the floor, dropping the needle, which rolled away from all parties and stopped against a wall.

Eddie sighed while Jamie kept his gun on Ricky. She responded concerned. "Are you okay?"

Jamie nodded amid a rough sigh. "Bruised but I'm good. How are the four of you?"

Eddie sighed. _"_ We're fine Jamie."

Ricky sighed predictably. "Ironic that Erik was the one who never really bought into both of you. Just tell me where my daughter is?"

Eddie was quickly on the phone and hung up after a few minutes. She was blunt but quizzical. "She's coming in…why didn't you just kill us right away?"

Ricky shrugged. "I've never done things as you see on TV and movies, it kept me in business for over 20 years. I'm sure you expected some major blood bath but that isn't my style. Besides, this kind of business will always be viable. Someone else will eventually fill the void."

Jenna entered the room, along with Agent Molina, Danny, and Baez. Jenna spoke bluntly. "That won't be me, I am living my own life because it's what Trish would have wanted."

Ricky seemed like someone who did not realize the error of his ways until it's too late. He was calm. "She has immunity then?"

Eddie nodded. "She was the key informant, and never did anything more than clerical quality assurance. It helps that she has no prior criminal record." She glanced at his sons still passed out on the floor. "Your sons, especially the trigger happy one, won't be as lucky. He will be charged with many of the same drug-related offenses as you, as well as the attempted murder of a police officer."

Jamie continued casually. "We're not going to waste time getting into specifics of all the charges between the three of you, that can be handled by the DEA, but the majority of them are drug-related felonies." He was blunt in a nonchalant way. "You will be in prison for the rest of your life and your sons for the next 30 or 40 years if they take a plea."

Agent Molina was cheerfully blunt to Jamie. "You want to do the honors, Reagan?"

Jamie shook his head. "Let Eddie do it, she had all the close calls on this assignment."

Agent Molina smiled. "Whenever you're ready, Officer Janko."

Eddie smiled and corrected her. "It's Reagan now, we're having a formal ceremony after the girls are born, but I, we, couldn't wait."

She amended herself. "Well then, whenever you are ready Mrs. Reagan."

Eddie took handcuffs and turned to Ricky, her tone blunt. "On behalf of the DEA, and in cooperation with the NYPD, I am placing you under arrest for numerous drug-related felonies, and the following additional charges: conspiracy to commit murder, battery and assault of a police officer." She casually read him his rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney if you can not afford an attorney one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?" Ricky nodded.

Eddie passed him off to Veronica, who took him gladly. Nice work both of you, you have a future in undercover narcotics with the NYPD if you want it." She addressed Ricky bluntly. "Let's go breaking bad."

Eddie was dismissive. "Couldn't have done it without your help, or Jenna's."

Veronica smiled at them both. "Eddie, your husbands' modesty is rubbing off on you."

Eddie chucked. "Yeah well, hopefully, our girls end up like their father since according to him they are all going to look like me."

Jamie smiled addressing Agent Molina. "Do you need anything else from us?"

She shrugged. "Besides, testifying at the trial, no, your work is finished, though I will make sure that your father knows what you accomplished and went through over the last six months or so." They gave modest shrugs in response. "We've already got people set to raid every location Jenna gave us." She turned to Jenna extremely impressed. "By the way, great job memorizing and copying all that information. Most people would have just taken the real ledger and who knows how that would have turned out."

Jenna shrugged eying her father with disgust and contempt. "Yeah well, I have a long memory. I will testify too when the time comes." She cast an uncertain look at her unconscious brothers. "What about them?"

Danny and Baez spoke up. "We will get them." Baez clarified. "Those tranqs should be wearing off soon anyway."

Jenna was blunt. "Make sure you charge Erik with the attempted murder of a police officer." Eddie gave an appreciative smile.

Danny nodded looking at Jamie and Eddie. "I'll see you two back in the city, huh. I'd expect multiple accommodations, and promotions coming for both of you." He looked at Jenna with a measure of wonder. "I heard you want to be a cop, you'll get a personal endorsement from me kid, not many 19-year-olds could have done what you did today."

Ricky was quickly angry. "Betray her family?"

Danny scoffed at him. "I believe it was Dean Winchester who said, 'just because you're blood it doesn't make you family, you have to earn that.' He fixed him with his typical Danny Reagan stare. "Unfortunately the only thing you've earned is life in prison, now can it Walter White!"

Something occurred to Veronica. "Hey Danny, I'm sorry about your wife."

He gave a grateful shrug. "Thank you…"

Soon Jamie and Eddie were alone with Jenna Ortiz. He smiled tired at his wife. "Ready to go home?"

Eddie nodded. "I just want to curl up in bed and stay there for quite a while." She turned to Jenna. "Will you be okay?"

Jenna nodded casually. "I'll be fine. My mother lives in the city anyway, which is perfect since I will be taking the police exam and joining the academy before too long." She looked at them uncertainly. "Should I feel guilty…my father is not exactly wrong about me."

Eddie put her hands-on Jenna's shoulders. Her response was empathetic. "Some personal advice, don't carry the weight of your family's crimes around with you. That's coming from the daughter of the poor mans Bernie Madoff."

Jenna wore a grateful smile. "Thank you, Eddie, thanks both of you."

Jamie nodded. "Thanks for all you've done today, you have more than enough skin to be a fantastic cop. Reminds me of Eddie quite a bit honestly."

Eddie shrugged. "Now he's just Sucking up to me because I'm pregnant with his girls."

Jamie chuckled. "Says my wife when she was complaining about the increasing possibility of bed rest. I would have honestly forbidden you from coming but we couldn't refuse to come back with Ricky.

Eddie nodded. "Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan."

Jamie nodded. "That's undercover work in a nutshell."

Eddie nodded. "I think I want our regular jobs back; our real lives will have its own chaos soon enough anyway."

Jamie nodded. "True, but we're much more prepared for that."

It did feel like raising triplets would be easy after what they went through over the last six months with Eddie being pregnant for almost the same amount of time.

* * *

A/N: I would love for them to work 'please don't hurt my family' into the show with Eddie given she is now a Reagan. There will be one more chapter to this story focusing on the aftermath, likely with a time jump, so I can freely focus on the birth of Jamie and Eddie's triplet daughters…I still plan on a sequel but that won't start until the end of the year at the earliest.

A/N 2: Now for something separate, I do plan on doing a few Jamko one-shots in the meantime, they will be M-rated (one will be a repost) both smut and non-smut. Learning from my mistake recently, I will provide notes on those stories when I post them, I have only written one other story of this nature in five years as a member of this site, for a different fandom. Blue Bloods readers, if sex is not your cup of tea or you go looking for the content but don't like what you read , please just keep it to yourself and don't lecture me with the assumption that just because I choose to remove the filter (smut or non-smut) on such one and done stories that I would ever treat an actual relationship as frivolously as might be depicted in that kind of writing. This was an issue with several guest reviews concerning the last story in this vein that I wrote which I took down recently, as a result, guest review moderation is now on permanently. No matter the nature of such content in the future any readers will know what they are in for—lack of warning will not be a mistake I make twice—it is called _fanfiction_ for a reason and just because I may choose to write something that is smut or close to it does not mean I have that kind of real-life view on sex or relationships. I don't, and while I admit my last attempt offered little to no warning of content, I don't want any such judgmental comments going forward, given that readers will know what they are in for before they start reading. If I warn you, which I will and you still don't like what you read after, that is not my problem. This wasn't about thin skin on my part either, I'm simply addressing the issue because I will be posting stories that caused it in the future. I welcome story related criticism, but that is not what most of this was, it was dragging judgmental assumptions into real life, and even worse done by people not even a member of the site, hence gust review filtering from now on. Members can review if they keep non-story judgments to themselves, but PM is preferred for outright STORY RELATED CRITICISM of content like I have discussed in A/N 2…it will give me a chance to fix look at the stories again with comments in mind. That is the end of my monologue…thanks for listening and hopefully, understanding.

Hope people come back for the end of this one😊


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: The last chapter, a different kind of excitement. Roughly speaking this chapter has a few smaller time-jumps from where the last left off, in April or May, still season 9 though by the end of the story it will be just before my version of season 10 starts.

Skip the sex scene if it's not your thing, scene **II**.

* * *

Eddie called loudly from the bedroom. "Jamie it's starting!"

Jamie came in a minute later looking uncertain. "Press conference or labor?"

Eddie had a bored response in her voice. "Press conference, but I wish it were labor. I'm the literal elephant in any room." She sighed. "I know it is precautionary, but total bed rest for the last two months, I can't stand it anymore…"

Jamie joined his wife on the bed eying the 1PP press room through the TV. His voice was consoling. "I know, but you are not an elephant you are carrying three babies and you're at 35 weeks. You're going to be bigger than normal, especially with how much food you eat already, and need to eat for them." He rubbed her belly gently.

Eddie gave him the stink eye. "Careful Boy Scout, I'm cranky so my appetite is not the smartest thing to mention right now."

Jamie smiled acknowledging. "Try to hang in there you've been a trooper."

At 35 weeks with triplets, Eddie's belly was larger than a singleton pregnancy something like a mini whale. Of course, Jamie didn't see her as anything other than beautiful.

Eddie smiled and dropped her head on his shoulder looking at the TV. Her voice seemed quiet and tired. "Here we go."

Frank spoke with a matter of fact tone as he settled at the podium. "Good morning, over the last eight and a half months Ricky Ortiz, the mastermind of the largest empire of illegal drugs in the United States, housed right here in New York City, has been arrested and convicted of numerous drug and other felonies related to his activities. He is expected to be sent to prison without a trial based on overwhelming evidence that supports a long list of charges. " There was a loud murmur amongst the press which Frank tempered as he continued. "Thanks to a successful undercover operation between the NYPD and the DEA the illegal drug trade has fallen more than 50% both domestically and internationally because of this."

A question escaped from the crowd of the press. "We have heard nothing about this until now."

Frank continued rhetorically. "Anonymity is how undercover operations are successful. Keeping this quiet until now was not easy. To that end, I want to thank my DCPI Garrett Moore and Special Assistant Sid Gormley who kept the cover of both officers who took on this assignment in tack as they worked to bring down Ricky Ortiz over a long six-month period." Both men stood smiling somewhat awkwardly.

Another question came. "Why did the DEA need help from the NYPD?"

Frank continued bluntly. "I will let the head of the operation give specifics, but Ricky Ortiz was a cunning target and thus able to avoid direct questioning and pressure. Given our cooperation with the DEA on several occasions in the past, I was willing to sign off when the officers agreed to the assignment." There was a collective question of who and how many before Frank continued again. "Two, two people that is all…they had to take down Ricky's empire from within it. Few officers possess the experience and intangibles to commit six months in the heart of the drug trade and not fall victim to it. Even fewer who step in front of a bullet protecting the PC without any regard for their safety, that was the not easy part of keeping things quiet." He sighed. "During my time as PC I've been stubborn about showing recognition to my family, but when that same family risks their lives for six months straight undercover and also takes a bullet for the PC, recognition is warranted."

Jamie raised his eyebrows. "What is he doing?"

Eddie smiled. "Seems like he isn't as stubborn after all that's happened." Jamie nodded agreeably.

Frank went on with a subtle inflection of respect in his words. "My youngest son and daughter in law are taking much deserved time off. They put themselves in danger willingly demonstrating extreme courage both individually and as a unit while on the job whether on the streets as part of my detail or undercover. They are an example worth highlighting because of their dedication as NYPD of this great city while showing that what is most valuable about any great partnership is the intangibles. It just so happens that they share a life off the job and have requested to stay together on the job when they return from parental leave."

One press-member was point-blank. "Are you worried this will create backlash commissioner?"

He continued. "I was only looking at their request with the assumption that personal involvement between cops leads to unsafe lapses in judgment but heard enough evidence that the opposite can be equally true and that's what the intangibles clause is, I had the perfect test in officers Reagan and Janko's recent months undercover together for the DEA. The test period has gone well across the NYPD too. I now officially add this clause to the patrol guide, which did not previously have a stated policy concerning partnerships where there is also romantic involvement. I have outlined the criteria…Garret if you would…"

Eddie squeezed Jamie's hand over her large and dropped stomach. She was leaning against him her words casual as they heard Garret. "You have to be partnered four years at a minimum with no command discipline stemming from personal issues and have a service record that demonstrates routine cooperation and success. Parties must also prove emotional level-headedness in a simulated scenario, and the final decision still rests with CO's." She smiled. "We made it, I think."

Jamie sighed. "I would hope he thinks that too, but it is just like my dad to want to put couples through a simulation that tests their ability to stay even emotionally."

Eddie was contemplative now; her inflection subdued. "We need to think about where we will be in the NYPD after parental leave is over."

Jamie shrugged. "I get the feeling we're getting promoted, Dad seems different. The last time I saw him this reflective was Joe's death."

Eddie smiled. "Almost losing you given what he has already dealt with probably opened his eyes that he can be a lot more praising and flexible with his family of cops when earned, and still stop short of nepotism." She held his face with her ring hand now quiet. "It reminded me too, how much I cannot live without you." She kissed him tenderly, not passionately… her tears slid silently.

Jamie held her as close as her belly would comfortably allow. He slowly ran through her hair with his ring hand, his voice concerned. "Hey, it's okay, I'm right here you have to stop lingering on the fear that something bad happening to me it creates stress for all four of you."

Eddie turned apologetic in a whisper. "I know but being on total bed rest makes my mind wander to what I'm afraid of…we're starting a family and I still don't think I could survive without you. Do you remember the terrible loop that played in your head before we were together? I have my own since you were shot and fell into that coma; trying to raise these girls without you…I can't—"

Jamie wiped her silent tears away in a consoling whisper. "Edit, calm down."

She met his forehead anxious. "Don't ever leave me…I would die…"

Jamie took her hand, his eyes held hers. "I will always fight to make sure I come home safe to the four of you, _always."_

Eddie let out a slow breath. "Promise…" He nodded. She smiled gratefully. "Good, now turn off the TV and make love to me until I'm in labor, I'm ready to meet your namesake and her sisters. I'm ready to hold our girls."

Jamie rubbed her back gently. "We've been trying to get you in labor for a week morning and night, there is no guarantee when it will happen."

Eddie smiled. "Sometimes the beauty is in the attempt, and I have enjoyed that, but they are still not here yet and I am almost full term for triplets."

He grinned. "I think they are just content in there, but you can't rush it." He gave a thin smile. "For the record, you insisted I get you pregnant remember?"

Eddie could only half-smirk, her response was a guilty blush. "Yeah well, now I insist that you keep trying to finish what I started because if I spend more day stuck in this bed, I will go insane. You are good at making babies, I need you to follow through and get them out of me no matter how many attempts it takes."

Jamie turned off the TV, he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Looks like we have our agenda for this morning."

Eddie smiled. "Thank you."

He squeezed her hand gently. "Anything for you, I'll be on top of everything when this works, just relax."

Eddie nodded.

 **II**

Given Eddie's size, they had gotten used to taking longer to get situated when they had sex. Eddie had long since not bothered with anything other than a robe, it became uncomfortable to have most fabric rubbing against her skin since the weather was now the middle of August. That compensated a little for how long it took to get positioned together. Eddie sitting in a modified, upright position atop Jamie.

She was passive leaning back, her legs stretched comfortably and not bent awkwardly. "I still think that complete bed rest is ridiculous If I can still move enough to sit on top of you with your help, then I'm just fine."

Jamie reminded her with a soft response. "Except for the part where your back hurts after 20 minutes of standing and that's since about 2 weeks after we finished working undercover, plus or minus some time." He rubbed her legs gently continuing with a relenting expression. "But I get that is not the same thing you're doing now."

She sighed reluctantly. "Yes, this isn't the same thing, I am not miserable because I can't move. I am miserable because I have had to stay in bed for two months based on back pain at the end of the pregnancy that only really bothers me if I stand without sitting down regularly, and I guess I see the point, but still."

Jamie was consoling. "If you relax, I think things will take care of themselves so just focus on us, okay beautiful." He ran both hands along her inner thighs digging in purposely on both sides.

Eddie took a deep breath at her husband's work and answered slowly. "Oh… you make it hard to complain when you do things like this."

Jamie was quiet as he moved to the heart of her sex with both hands. "Your so pretty Edit, no matter how you look. I'm going to make sure that you're not stressed." He put two fingers in her and was purposely slow as he stimulated the fleshy soft nerves that formed her inner walls, arcing both fingers and moving them like an elevator as he did.

Eddie was quickly in a lazy state of arousal as his fingers moved inside her. "You have magic fingers, I swear, it feels so good…" She started bucking slowly on his member, trying to return the favor.

Jamie felt the pleasurable tension on his dick and gave a grunt of satisfaction. "You're motivating me even more!" He started using his other hand on her clit, palming it quickly so Eddie felt opposite speeds at the same time.

Eddie's movement astride him became wilder, she felt warmth take over as he continued working between her legs. "Jamie… oh, god…the things you do to me. I'm the one that is spoiled for life."

He smiled dismissively. "Not true, carrying my kids means you automatically win any competition for spoiling rights. All I can ever do is thank you…"

Jamie left her clit and moved both hands to her stomach, he seemed suddenly lost at the sight of her belly knowing that he was so close to having daughters, and not just one but three. He lifted his head to her sex and started sucking off its swollen exterior.

Eddie soon had an expression of absentminded ecstasy on her face. "This lip service…when I'm a fat mess. I love you," He sucked harder lapping her clit slowly with his tongue, and moved fingers quickly inside of her, all along her g-spot, she had stopped trying to figure out why he was the perfect lover. Maybe it was because he was her best friend and not in that platonic traditional sense, but the person that she loved more than anything and always wanted to be around, to the point that it physically and emotionally hurt when they were apart.

She was overwhelmed with how great it felt to be coveted like this. "OH GOD, JAMESON!"

Eddie rode him hard now, building loudly to release and she crossed into blissful oblivion shortly after that, vice gripping his member with every muscle of her ass. She was privately worried that the babies would just fall out even though that was impossible. Jamie stopped just before Eddie collapsed unable to stay upright any longer. He caught her awkward sideways fall with both hands, and she stretched out now laying on her side, he assumed the same position, both close together front spooning with her.

He stroked her hair gently, his voice tender. "Are you okay did I go overboard?"

Eddie was resting her head on his chest. She nodded smiling. "That was me, you did just fine, nice catch."

He was so turned on hearing her say his name in such a suggestive way. "You know that you can count on me." He kissed her deeply passionately their hands joined on her belly.

The kiss broke and Jamie focused on both sides of her neck, starting at the back of her ear, then moving slowly south and across her chest into her cleavage. She was weak from it, trying to return the same attention to him.

They squeezed hands and Jamie kissed and sucked her breasts and nipples, squeezing them gingerly in his teeth, every release made breath draw out in a long quiet moan. "Jamie…everything you do…I'm so lucky…"

He relished being able to feel his daughter's as their joined hands drifted lazily around her belly. He moved down to her stomach and kissed its extra-large surface tenderly several times, and then returned to her lips in a slow, purposeful kiss, just barely pulling away.

Jamie was soft to her as they remained joined at the forehead. "Nothing will stop me from doing anything I can for you and our girls."

Eddie was emotional now. "I love you so much it makes me crazy." Eddie felt her breathing come heavy for a while as they laid together Before too long, she felt a sudden burst of warmth and quickly realized that her labor was about to start. They were going to be parents soon.

Eddie was breathing through sudden excitement. "Well, Boy Scout, my water just broke…they will be here soon, are you ready to deliver your daughters, Dad?"

Jamie kissed her forehead and nodded. "Besides, if I can deliver someone else's baby in a movie theater I can deliver all three of our daughters in the comfort of our home, with two months of preparing in advance, I'll have everything covered."

III

Eddie sighed to herself. "It's happening."

Jamie was indeed on top everything like he promised. Like when she was shot, he made sure she was dry and comfortable on the bed. He washed his hands thoroughly, gathered necessary items and brought them into the room.

Eddie was genuinely surprised. "Okay Jamie, when you said that you had two months of advanced planning, I didn't think you were talking literally." She had a thin smile. "Did you rob a hospital?"

Jamie had situated himself in front of his wife and put on gloves. He chuckled, "You are funny. Once you went on total bed rest, I made a point to get prepared for when you went into labor, I bought essentials. Oxygen, vitals monitors, stethoscope, a little scale, and I know we already have bassinets, but I got three bare-bones ones— since there are usually a few minutes between each delivery—gloves, a mask. I also did a ton of research on how to do everything, like handling the babies positioning, cutting the umbilical cord, handling the placenta all the important stuff, you wanted to do this here so I made sure I got on top of it even though you already were looking into all of it when we weren't busy playing bad guys."

Eddie was quizzical as contractions started. "How much did—Ah, whoa, the contractions are starting!" She breathed steadily until it passed. "…so that's what they feel like…"

Jamie held her hand, he finished her thought. "To answer your question, this didn't cost anything. The DEA is compensating us for bringing down Ricky's drug empire."

Eddie smiled. "You are my Superman Jamie! Thank you for supporting me with this, I know it's not for you." She sighed. "I just have been anxious about hospitals ever since my brother died, and labor is supposed to be as comfortable as possible. Besides, women gave birth in their everyday environment hundreds of years before hospitals ever existed."

He chuckled agreeably. "It is backward thinking, just add it to the list of stigmas that don't make sense like herbal treatments."

Eddie nodded. "Stuff around breastfeeding was the one that always baffled me. We can drink milk that comes from a cow but, someone breastfeeds well past infancy, or couples do it and there's an outcry. It's ridiculous it's human milk and the human breast is the delivery system."

Jamie kissed her forehead. "Speaking of, how long do you think you'll breastfeed? It doesn't matter to me, I'm just saying I'm not going to leave your breasts alone just because you're nursing."

Eddie shrugged. "I'm not sure, my mother hated breastfeeding. I think I'll just have to decide for myself." She batted her eyes at him sounding blunt. "Regardless, you're going to have a lot of competition, and sex is going to be off the table for a while. Are you sure you're ready for that?" She smirked.

Jamie smiled as Eddie squeezed his hand again, breathing through another contraction. "I will take being with you however and whenever I can."

She breathed quickly but calmly. "…oh, I know you will."

Jamie looked at a stopwatch before continuing. "That was about an 8-minute interval. I think your contractions may have started before your water broke. I'm going to check how things are going under your hood."

Eddie nodded her response quizzical. "Did you notice any dilation or effacement while you were having your fun down there earlier?"

Jamie checked carefully while responding with blunt sarcasm. "We weren't at a good vantage point for me to tell. You know because you insisted on proving how well you could move around."

Eddie gave a guilty chuckle. "Point taken, what about now?"

Jamie withdrew his head, changing his gloves. He was notably excited in response. "Things are moving along, you're completely effaced, and 4 centimeters dilated."

Eddie was surprised. "I knew I could end up effaced before labor even started but this escalated fast-oh here we go again!" She breathed sharply feeling more intensity than last time.

He was reassuring as he checked the time again and held her hand. "7 minutes, getting closer—that's because you finally relaxed, stress is honestly the worst thing for anyone, let alone someone pregnant."

Eddie blushed. "I'm a little stressed now that it's coming so soon." She rested her head back on a pillow overcome by nostalgia. "The last time we did this I was just a cheerleader. Her expression turned worried. "Now I have to push, and it's multiplied by three!"

Jamie stood up to, kissing her as their foreheads met. He gave encouragement to her smiling. "I think we've got some time before you have to push, but you can do this Eddie, I'm right here and it's just us."

She melted. "That's why you're the only person I could ever imagine having a family with. There is nobody else I could or would do this for."

He smiled holding her chin thoughtfully. "That makes me the luckiest man ever."

Eddie grinned. "Not more than me, few husbands support this, especially with triplets."

Jamie kissed her hand. "I always have your back, you're the one doing all the hard work."

Eddie melted again. "Thank you." Another contraction came suddenly. "Oh Geez, they're getting worse!" She breathed as deeply as she could until it passed. Her voice was oddly thankful. "Yeah, it's much more comfortable here with you, not to mention I get you in your boxers."

Jamie chuckled teasingly. "Oh, so that's why you wanted it to be just us, hospital view too boring. She smirked. "Sit tight beautiful I'm going to check things again because that last contraction was 5 minutes."

Eddie sighed anxiously. "Oh boy, they'll happen more frequently from now on…"

Jamie finished checking after a minute or so. He was encouraging. "6 centimeters-you are doing great Eddie try to hang in there."

Eddie sighed anxiously. "Can't we skip all the buildup and push a button in there or something! I-I'm scared Jamie, one baby is hard enough but it's three… _three._ What if it's like a Pez dispenser…" She felt the strongest contraction yet. "Owwwwwww! She squeezed Jamie's hand thankful he didn't buckle from it.

Jamie was quiet as the latest one passed. "You're doing so good Eddie just keep breathing."

She was resting briefly in between contractions. She closed her eyes chuckling. "You just referenced Ariana Grande."

Jamie laughed with a grin. "That's my wife, corny as ever. Do you want some ice chips? I readied those too."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah…thanks. You've been so wonderful."

Jamie handed her a small cup full. "Like I've said before, anything for you."

Eddie's contractions increased steadily in rate and intensity over the next hour, and she switched from sitting upright in bed to laying sideways. Jamie put leads on her to keep track of her vitals and kept oxygen nearby just in case. Eventually it was time to start pushing…

Jamie was calm as he prepared for delivery. "Okay you're at 10 centimeters, are you ready?"

Eddie was experiencing contractions every 90 seconds or so, breathing sharply at a steady pace now. She was grateful but anxious. She sighed. "Not really, I watched that episode of friends where Phoebe gives birth to her brother's triples a lot hoping to get some idea, but I know, it's impossible to prepare mentally…" She was overcome with another contraction as she continued. "If pushing hurts as much these contractions, I don't know if I can do it!"

He reassured her. "You can do it Eddie you're the strongest person I know!" She nodded with renewed confidence.

At Jamie's encouragement, she pushed, the pain was an intense pressure that constantly changed just enough so that Eddie felt like she couldn't get used to it. She was anxious during the second push. "Jamie!"

He continued encouragingly. "I know Eddie, keep pushing until I see the head and then I can guide her out, okay."

Eddie calmed down a little. "Okay, okay…I can do this…because I kick ass!"

Jamie smiled. "Yes, you do!"

Eddie pushed twice more until Jamie was able to support the first baby's head, careful not to pull. He encouraged her with a huge smile. "Alright Eddie, another push should free her shoulders and she'll slide out easily."

Eddie was breathing quickly. "Yeah, but then I have to do this for two more babies."

Jamie kept her from thinking that far ahead. "One baby at a time Edit, you can do it, because you kick ass!"

Eddie managed a smile and prepared to push her first girl out completely. "Okay Mary, this is it!" With a deep-drawn out grunting scream Eddie pushed again in time with her latest contraction and moments later an infant wail filled the room. It was a steady, healthy cry.

Eddie leaned back smiling in temporary relief, but unmistakable joy. She called uncertainly. "Is she okay?"

Jamie called back reassuringly. "She's great, I'm just taking care of the essentials, and then I'll put her down and make sure you can see her while we wait for her sisters to join the party.

Eddie chuckled. "I'm not surprised you're so confident. I think you're enjoying making fathers everywhere look bad."

It was a couple of minutes before Jamie responded, not until he cut the cord and clothed his first daughter, Mary, placing her in one of the bassinets.

He gave quiet admission. "Well, I am going to enjoy holding it over Danny that I delivered all three of my kids. He got light-headed with both Jack and Shawn and threw up in the sink at the hospital. I guess he deserves credit for not passing out, but I will one-up him for the fourth time when we're done."

Eddie looked and sounded reluctant to share credit. "What do you mean we Boy Scout! I'm doing all the heavy lifting here!"

Jamie grinned acknowledging this and slid a still crying Mary into view of her mother. He was gentle in response. "You are, and you're doing absolutely amazing." He turned soft. "Her oxygen is great and she's a little over five pounds', which is more than the average for triplets but with how much her mom eats I'm not surprised and make a safe bet her sisters will follow suit."

Eddie gave an appreciative smirk. "Watch it, Dad. Pushing your kids out into the world is not the best time to comment about my appetite." She suddenly felt the urge to push again. "I'd get ready to receive again, the next one is on her way! Another contraction came intensely over her. "God this is the worst one so far!"

Jamie encouraged her. "I've got her head! You are doing so great Eddie!"

Eddie pushed again, screaming to try to give herself a second wind. "God I can't believe I asked for this!"

A few seconds later double the noise filled the room, and Jamie repeated earlier necessities for his second daughter.

He'd just finished cutting another umbilical cord. Eddie was anxious. "Jamie, the last one is coming sooner, I can tell."

Jamie had a reassuring tone, he was already clothing daughter number two. "Don't worry, I can dress babies quickly and efficiently. Benefits of having two nephews and a niece is I have plenty of experience dressing babies; Jamie Rose is by her sister—almost six pounds." He placed Jamie "Rose" in a bassinet next to her minutes older sister and readied for daughter number three. "This is it, all that's left is Sarah."

Eddie shook her head anxious from exhaustion. "She's going to have to crawl out, I can't do it again Jamie… I can't do it a third time!"

Jamie took her hand, quiet and calm. "You're doing incredible, I know you're tired, it's almost over, a few more pushes are all that's left."

Eddie gave an exasperated whimper. "Okay…" With a deep breath, Eddie half screamed half cried her way through the rest of the contractions while she pushed, but eventually, a third infant cry filled the room.

Eddie was fully crying, though it was a mix of happiness exhaustion and relief she felt. "They're all here, our girls…Jamie!"

Jamie spent some minutes taking care of essentials for Sarah. He was praising. "You did so good Eddie, I'm so proud of you!"

Eddie smiled. "You did everything else our medic." Eddie managed to sit up upright again.

Jamie smiled. "You did all the hard work, Sarah's 5 and a half pounds exactly. I will grab her sisters and you can start bonding with them, all their vitals look good and so do yours."

Eddie took Sarah Reagan, holding her gently, set to start nursing. She smiled quietly correcting her husband. " _We_ can start bonding with them. We're an army of five now you know, and I can't feed all three at once."

Jamie was sitting next to Eddie in bed holding his informal namesake and Mary with an acknowledging smile. "That would make you extra kick ass if you could."

Eddie leaned her forehead against Jamie's with a thin smile. Her response playfully scolding him. "Hey, watch the cursing around the kids, Jameson." He gave a small shrug smiling.

Sarah latched to Eddie a moment later and nursing started. She was used Jamie spending time on her boobs during sex, this was starkly different. For one thing Eddie only just noticed the sensation of lactation. It was like filling a balloon, things felt gushy without the actual movement that accompanied the gush. Then there was the feeding itself, she could hear the tiniest sort of suction noise as the Sarah began. It was easy to see the difference in nursing. The baby was constant, like an extremely low power vacuum, clearly attached to its source out of need.

A content smile crossed Eddie's face. She was in a state of quiet euphoria. "How could my mother have hated this."

Jamie guessed easily. "They are not teething yet, that probably hurts, and if any or all of these girls end up being as routinely hungry as their mother…"

Eddie gave him a daggers sideways glance with raised eyebrows and a low but stern whisper. You're such a jerk!"

He chuckled mildly, calmly apologetic. "Sorry I couldn't resist!"

She slowly smiled shaking her head. "I so want to hit you right now!"

Jamie smiled back teasingly. "Well you can't, but you can kiss me instead."

She melted instantly. "Well, I do love you." The kiss was perhaps the most strictly emotional kiss between them ever.

They broke apart and he whispered back. "I love you too." He turned quizzical now. "How can I help you handle this?"

Eddie smiled. "I'm going to feed them all individually, at least until I get completely used to it, so we'll just carefully switch as needed."

Jamie nodded. "Whatever you need I'm right here."

Nursing all three took about an hour and a half and it was interrupted by the afterbirth which Jamie handled without much of a hassle, furthering Eddie's amazement and insistence that he was making father's everywhere look bad.

He confessed. "I only care about making Danny look bad. That was when he threw up." Eventually, he convinced Eddie to get some much-deserved rest. "Come on, you know that when they are sleeping you should be sleeping."

Eddie glanced nervously. "I don't want to not keep an eye on them, what if they're having trouble breathing or something sudden like that."

He reminded her reassuringly. "That's why I'm watching them, and I'm monitoring them carefully too. All that healthy crying earlier is the biggest sign they are doing well, but vitals are good too. If it helps, we will schedule to get them all officially checked out just in case, but I can tell we've had family watching from upstairs the entire pregnancy. Now, Edit, give me some peace of mind and get some sleep, you had a very long morning. I really wasn't exaggerating when I said I had all this covered."

She smiled. "Okay."

That was the truth, it was 12:30 in the afternoon now, he wasn't even sure how long it took but he guessed that once active labor hit things went reasonably fast, which told him that Eddie had by a miracle had a pregnancy without major complications, except for back issues near the end of the former. Jamie surveyed everything before his eyes with an emotional smile, especially his sleeping daughter's. His greatest desires, not long ago nothing more than hopeful thinking, were now fully realized. For perhaps the first time in a long, long time he let himself cry out of complete happiness, tears silently running down his face, they were indeed an army of five now.

IV

Jamie and Eddie's fear that their apartment was nowhere near big enough for five people was made true over the course of the week, and that realization led them to relocate to the elder Reagan's home that Friday afternoon after not giving Henry much of a choice. Not that he refused would have refused his newborn great-granddaughters anyway. He was, surprised they finally surfaced, something they discussed in detail after getting situated.

Jamie was indifferent. "That's what happens when you get pregnant while deep undercover and then your wife gets placed on total bed rest with her heart set on delivery at home. Probably the only time we will ever be completely MIA pop."

He chuckled. "I should hope so, I do find it hard to believe you couldn't have said something, and so will everyone else."

Jamie shrugged. "I'm sorry that the perfect storm of circumstances prevented us from informing the rest of the family how the pregnancy was going. He shifted a little because he was holding his namesake who was cooing quietly in his arms. "Now that I think about it, I'm glad we stayed out of the hospital. The aftermath of the operation has exploded quickly, if we were in public who knows what might have happened. Ricky had a lot of friends in low, or everyday places if we had been out in public…I don't even want to think about it."

Henry nodded "I still don't like that you took the that assignment, deep cover stuff makes me itchy all the time."

Jamie sighed. "Sorry pop, it wasn't easy for us either but it's over now."

Eddie came in and sat next to Jamie holding her other two daughters. She was quiet as they were sleeping. "So far taking care of these three is much easier than that undercover assignment."

Henry smiled. "Let me take one for you." Eddie nodded gratefully. "So how are the little princesses?"

Eddie smiled brightly. "Totally healthy, the hospital said that they can count on one hand the number of identical monochorionic triplets that are born so healthy at home."

Jamie smiled. "They're even above the average weight for triplets." Eddie shook her head smirking.

Henry wore a confused look. "Mono—what?"

Eddie smiled tilting her head. "Monochorionic—it means that they shared one sac during the pregnancy. Sometimes multiples get their own rooms, not these." She sighed rocking slightly back and forth. "That's another reason why the hospital was so shocked by the great health of them all. It was a home birth and monochorionic multiples usually have more problems. It's like someone was watching over all of us."

Henry was emphatic. "I'd call that God's will, and give an assist to Mary, Joe, and Linda. It's about time this family had the same number of blessings as our most painful tragedies."

Eddie sighed. "I wish I could have met them. Linda was around, but I never…not even in passing."

Jamie gave a melancholy smile. "She was working through me while you were in labor, I believe that."

Henry smiled. "You did everything?"

Jamie nodded. "Everything except push the kids out, it was amazing."

Eddie shrugged. "I don't know how he didn't throw up or pass out at all."

Henry grinned. "Jamie is always cool under pressure, and he's developed a strong stomach. Swallowing things young probably helps even if it was mostly foreign objects."

Eddie's mouth opened in surprise and then she smiled teasingly. "Wait I think I do remember a story about him swallowing Mary's favorite pearl earrings; the only time I laughed while you were in a coma."

Henry nodded. "You're welcome."

Frank was pleasantly surprised to find Jamie and Eddie when he arrived home several hours later. He took a seat in the living room and began conversation.

His greeting was light and cheerful. "You're place got crowded quickly huh?"

Jamie sighed shaking his head. "Roomy for two people, alarmingly small for an army of five."

He smiled. "You can stay here as long as you need."

Eddie wore a grateful yet apologetic look. "The DEA is compensating us with money, enough to find a house, but we obviously don't have time to look right now and might not for a while, so thank you Frank."

He nodded. "I always have my family's six."

Jamie shook his head. "I know…speaking of, we watched the press conference on Monday, or at least your portion of it; the awards, dad you don't have to, we just did our jobs."

Frank sat in a chair opposite them looking contemplative. "At extreme risk to yourselves indifferent to the possibility of death."

Jamie countered with a smile. "The same risk the NYPD takes every single day."

He nodded slowly in agreement. "True, and if they endured what you both have I would be doing the same thing." He sighed. "I've been unfairly stubborn about recognizing the risks my family has endured on the job. Seeing you take a bullet meant for me, opened my eyes, the least I can do is give recognition when the cops in this family earn it."

Jamie nodded. "The intangibles clause, it's been successful."

He nodded leaning back. "Yes, four partnered cops so far, 3 of the 4 have been permitted to stay that way."

Eddie asked curiously. "What was the problem with the fourth?"

Frank folded his hands. "There was a call they responded to about a year ago, they disagreed about how to handle two-armed perps, he ended up taking matters into his own hands and she chased after him. They got through, but she got shot in the shoulder, had to rehab."

Eddie gave a subdued nod. "When they came forward that was obviously a deal-breaker."

Frank smiled. "Exactly, any idea what you'll do when you're back on the job?"

Eddie chuckled, leaning back on the couch. "Boss no offense, but I just had triplets after more than six months undercover…the last thing I am thinking about is being back on the job."

Jamie put his arm around Eddie. "What she said."

Frank gave an acknowledging smile. "Silly me, well you can worry about that when the time comes. For now, enjoy your daughter's, and know we're around to help if you need anything."

Jamie smiled. "Thanks dad."

Not long after Frank left, tiny cries began to fill the room.

Jamie sighed. "Can't be wet, we just changed them recently."

Eddie sat up quickly, shaking her head. "Nope, they're hungry, good thing I'm prepared."

Jamie brought the carrier's over to the couch smiling gently. "Yeah I'm right here, just let me know when to pass you the next kid."

Eddie picked up one baby and then set to breastfeed. She frowned guiltily. "I wish I could feed all three of them, or even two at once." She cried silently. "They're crying out of need, I hate that I'm making them wait."

Jamie whispered consolingly holding the other two triplets. "Hey, hey it's okay. You do everything the way that you feel most comfortable and the safest for you. I know you'll get the hang of it quickly, but give yourself time, three babies are a lot."

Eddie nodded, smiling. "I know, it's just I love them. I love all of them even more than I love you and I can't even tell them apart."

Jamie smiled. They are identical triplets so don't blame yourself for that, and I don't mind that I'm second fiddle now."

Eddie corrected herself, a guilty expression. "That's not what I meant, of course, I love you it's just—"

Jamie was sweetly dismissive. "Nothing can compare with a mother's love for her children. Ed, it's fine really."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Exactly, I've been thinking about how we can distinguish them. Until they're old enough we always put them in different clothes, and then we give them a different necklace that they can always wear."

Jamie was thoughtfully looking at all three of the triplets then at Eddie. "Kind of like the necklace you wear all the time, that's a great idea."

Eddie smiled. "Thanks… I think this is "Rose", I'm noticing she nurses the most of the three." It was true the second oldest of the triplets fed longer and at a larger rate than her siblings. It was well over 30 minutes before she was content and back in her bassinet. Eddie was suddenly confident. "Mary and Sarah have waited long enough, I will take care of them at the same time."

Jamie nodded carefully helping situate both. He watched with some awe. "You're not running on empty?"

Eddie shook her head. "I produce enough milk to be able to feed all three of them multiple times a day and when they cry, I lactate so it keeps up the supply in between sessions. The only way that runs empty is if I stop breastfeeding."

Jamie shook his head. "We can't have that, now can we?"

Eddie smirked. "Always a breast guy Jamie. I think that's where "Rose" gets it from. Don't worry Jameson, it'll be a year at a minimum before these go back to normal. Although between Jamie Rose and you, I think it'll be much longer and stiff competition at that. She was playfully stern. "Just as long as you know that your daughters take priority."

He chuckled faking offense. "How selfish do you think I am?"

She chuckled. "I'm just worried you're not ready to be put on the back burner."

Jamie shrugged nonchalantly. "I survived for 5 years without having you exclusively to myself. I think I can manage to let our daughters have you to themselves for as long as they need."

Eddie smiled, batting her eyes at him curiously. "Oh really, are you sure about that Jameson?"

Jamie grinned. "Just looking at you is enough, you forget, I've tapped that many times already, and a bunch in a single night at your request is how our daughters got here. Keeping a lid on is a lot easier now that I've gotten to take yours off quite a few times."

Eddie gave him a challenging look. "Oh, we'll see how long you last Boy Scout."

Jamie kissed her forehead. "Are you alright with them. I got an idea about telling them apart from each other, a quick fix."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." She called after him teasingly right as he got up to leave the room. "I bet a quick fix is what you will need from me eventually."

Jamie was rhetorical. "That's a bad thing how exactly?"

Eddie turned faux disappointed. "Aw, it's no fun when you concede defeat." They both chuckled lightly before he disappeared from view.

Eddie spoke tenderly to her two feeding children. "You know, I think all three of you take after my appetite, I guess your dad is right. Just don't tell him I said that, and you can all have as much as you want okay." She closed her eyes as they continued to drink, sucking stronger as if in gratitude. Eddie let out a content exhale again quiet. "That's it…I'm so happy you're all here now."

Eddie was originally dismissive of the importance of breastfeeding but reading about the overwhelmingly evident benefits and now experiencing it firsthand, she knew it was vital and wondered perhaps excessively if her mother's lack of commitment with her in this was the most basic reason for their lifelong tension. It was true that she didn't feel close to her mother. She was not going to let that happen with her daughter's and it was clear that it started here. Eddie also thought that this would be a good way to maintain intimacy with her wonderful husband…a much more manageable quickie compared to trying to squeeze in sex. The truth was that Eddie really didn't want to lose intimacy just because they had triplets now.

Jamie came back sometime later carrying an old locket. It was gold and shaped like a circle. "Sorry that took so long, it took a while to find it."

Eddie was curious. "It's a locket?"

Jamie nodded sitting down and quietly explained. "It was my mother's. Eddie melted as he continued. "I always felt bad that someone else got her engagement ring and this, well hopefully it makes up for that."

Eddie melted looking at the locket with her head on Jamie's shoulder. "Jameson, it's beautiful. How can I tell the triplets apart with this?"

Jamie smiled. "Well see, I marked their heels with a sharpie when they were born, and I figured you could put their baby pictures in here.

Eddie melted even more. "Oh Jamie, that's…you're, this is…I love you so much!"

Jamie squeezed her gently. "I love you too, girls all done nursing for now?"

Eddie put her arms around Jamie's neck in a whisper. "Yup, I'm thinking we should take them upstairs to your room, and all five of us can take a nap, and then later at some point, I can thank you for this gift."

He nodded. "You caved first what happened?"

Eddie smiled. "I guess I don't care how I get Jamie time, so we'll start with the nap and then go from there."

Jamie ran through her hair. "Sounds good to me."

They did just that, sleeping for several hours, the army of five checked in on by a smiling Frank and Henry, who decided not to wake them up, knowing that the triplets would do that on their own schedule anyway.

That Sunday's dinner was the first with the trio of new Reagan's, though Eddie reminded that they were way too young to join the table. Grace was subsequently adjusted to include the newborns, Eddie nursed all of them before dinner which took a little over an hour as usual. The conversation was kept at a lower volume and without mention of work for fear of disturbing the triplet's sleep.

Erin was unusually pleasant because of her new nieces. She was clearly smitten. "They're adorable, I don't suppose I could take one home?"

Eddie was blunt. "I'm nursing several times a day so anything long term is off the table, but maybe down the road they can spend a few hours with you and Nicky."

Erin smiled. "We'll take it!"

Danny smiled. "I still can't believe the prince of the family has three princesses of his own now."

Erin grinned. "I can't believe he delivered them all and didn't pass out or throw up like Danny."

Nicky was enthusiastic. "I think it's great you had them at home, there's a stigma around home births."

Erin raised her eyebrows. "Is there something that I should know?"

Nicky chuckled. "Relax I'm not pregnant but if that ever happens, I am giving birth at home."

Eddie turned to Nicky, an indifferent look. "It was a personal choice. If we have anymore I might have them at the hospital, but I knew I wasn't going to the first time, too chaotic. A lot of lousy memories attached."

Henry was indifferent. "I don't know if I like the idea, seems risky."

Eddie and Jamie were blunt. "Prepare in advance."

Erin looked bluntly at her daughter. "Hopefully very very far in advance." Everyone laughed.

Eddie was still serious. "Preparing in advance helped a lot, but I could not have gotten through it without Jamie. I was exhausted by the time Sarah came along, I'm still exhausted."

Jamie nodded. "Three is a lot."

Danny was irritable. "Show off, you can't help but be better than me."

Sean chimed in quite enthusiastically. "Face it, dad…Uncle Jamie is just awesome!"

Eddie grinned making Jamie blush some. "Yeah, you are."

Henry was curious. "How is Jamie being awesome funny?"

Danny gave his brother a jab. "Because she knows it's not true." Jamie shot Danny an annoyed look.

Eddie smiled. "It's actually an inside joke about me, being jealous. A sarcastic comment I made when Jamie let a woman who'd fallen on hard times crash at his place. It was before we were together."

Danny nodded in assumption. "You mean before you both wised up and shacked up." Eddie and Jamie blushed.

Erin shook her head. "You're a regular wordsmith Danny."

Frank smiled. "It's been a long time since we had newborns in the family."

Danny smiled. "Girls aren't typical in the family. I'm surprised that you have triplets."

Jamie shrugged. "I'm glad things are a little less lopsided now. Besides I'm used to Eddie I'd rather deal with kids like that than anything else."

Henry chuckled. "Hard not to feel a little insulted, something wrong with this side of the family?"

Jamie shook his head. "Of course not, but I spent 8-12 hours a day with Eddie, I know how to handle that, I like handling it."

Erin cautioned her little brother. "You say that now, wait until they are teenagers."

Nicky raised her eyebrows. "Now I feel insulted, I wasn't _that_ bad." Erin shrugged indifferently.

Jamie shrugged. "I still feel better about having girls."

Danny jabbed again. "That's because you're such a sensitive golden boy."

Jamie returned fire. "Better that than a loose cannon," Danny smirked. Jamie was blunt. "I grew up with you and Joe, and a lot of chaos until we got older, I'd rather deal with that when I have more experience raising kids."

Eddie shrugged. "The only thing I know for sure is I want to be better than my parents."

Frank smiled thoughtfully. "That's all each generation wants for their kids and something tells me that both of you will strive for that just as thoroughly pop did for me, and as Danny and Erin have for their kids."

There was a chorus of thanks from all at the table.

V

Eddie whispered anxiously. "Do you think they are fine?"

Jamie whispered back rhetorically. "You've asked me that constantly since we left the house, Eddie."

She acknowledged this with a stiff nod. "I know, but this is the first time in five weeks we are both not with them! What about next week when we have to go back to work…"

Jamie was gently blunt. "We're not there yet Eddie. We'll be back home as soon as it's over, pops and Lena can manage until then. If you don't relax, you'll sweat so much that it'll be impossible not to notice."

Eddie was blunt. "I stick out already because I haven't lost all my baby weight and had to get fitted for new dress blues, I want to get home ASAP."

Jamie held her hand. "He's trying to do this the same way he always does so it doesn't feel awkward."

She sighed nodding slowly. "I know, I just miss them!"

He squeezed her hand gently in response. "I know me too Ed; for now, the ceremony is starting." They faced the room as Frank got to the podium.

He was businesslike. "Today is the annual NYPD department-wide ceremony concerning awards and upper-level promotions. I will be going by precinct for the latter and then hand out all officer specific awards."

7, 10, 12, 20, then… "the 29th is losing it's two longest-serving cops to voluntary retirement. While I'm thrilled that after 40 years of combined service, they will get to enjoy the simple things in life. The department rarely loses two lieutenants from the same precinct at the same time and while nobody can replace officers Sampson and Crane, we do need two new lieutenants…"

Eddie muttered quietly. "Hopefully it's not McNichols, I heard she is a stiff board."

Frank was indifferent as he continued. "It was tough finding two officers whose experience, dedication and service record fit those that the department is losing, and I almost refused their pending retirement." Everyone laughed, including the retiring officers.

Frank continued more thoughtful as he did when about to say something profound. "But then I remembered an appropriate saying. 'It's not the years of your life that matter, it's the life in your years.' Abraham Lincoln—I think he would know considering that he died young and yet, rid this country of slavery as president. Frank continued a matter of fact. "One could apply this to public service years as well which is exactly what I have done. He paused briefly. "Officer's Reagan and Janko who, as everyone is now aware recently completed a more than sixth month undercover assignment will be made lieutenants and work in cooperation with Captain Espinoza to oversee the entire 29th precinct."

Eddie's recent anxiousness was suddenly replaced with shock, on a level she hadn't felt since discovering that she was pregnant with triplets. The surprise escaped her lips. "What?"

Frank chuckled mildly but continued as though he had not heard anything. "Captain Espinoza recently expressed concern that the 29th has steadily fallen back into chaos in the time officers Reagan and Janko were undercover and asked if I could do something about it, this was one of three circumstances that led me to make this change. One professional in the retirements previously mentioned, and one very personal. The birth of my granddaughters." He smiled for the first time. "I don't doubt that there are those who see this as playing favorites and that's true but it's not the officer's I'm favoring, but I'm making damn sure that my granddaughters have a better chance of growing up with both their parents, I don't think anyone in the department will blame me when they bring them by the precincts in the future." Everyone chuckled again. He turned blunt again. "Now for those who still claim nepotism from me, I would not have given these promotions unless there was professional justification for them. That is the third, much easier piece that was already in place, the on the job success both individually and as a unit. Multiple calls, undercover assignments and the kind of respect and cooperation that has saved many lives including theirs and, more recently mine, but more on that in a minute. First, the remaining promotions…"

The other promotions came from the 32nd, 43rd, and 57th precinct. Among those promoted was Anthony Renzulli to Captain of the 12th precinct, much to Jamie's satisfaction.

Eddie whispered in a daze. "Both of us lieutenants, how's that going to work?"

Jamie shrugged. "I'm just glad that I can freely kiss my wife at work now without feeling like it's inappropriate because I outrank you."

Eddie was still in shock, whisper conversing with Jamie. "I can't believe I jumped a rung on the ladder, I was middle of the pack on the Sargent's exam…why would he promote me to lieutenant."

Jamie smiled. "I can because it's not all about exam success. You, we, have a lot of situational experience dealing with things that lieutenants deal with, practical knowledge on big issues, and he made a point of saying that it was for the grandkids too. We won't be on the street for everyday crime, and it seems like the boss is a little less willing to not pull strings for them when pieces fall into place to justify it."

Eddie nodded. "So, you're saying he's willing to pull strings if the end result is beneficial to the NYPD?"

Jamie nodded. "The boss is stubborn, not stupid."

When the last of the promotions were announced Frank shifted gears. "The NYPD makes a point to award those who go above and beyond in the call of duty, on this day there are three officers who have earned such recognition. First, Kara Walsh the combat cross. For her exceptional heroism in response to a distress call during an outdoor celebration of Gay Pride in the beginning of this past summer. A group of gang members armed with military-grade AK-47s, plus subduing one perpetrator who was armed with a wide-raging explosive detonator minimizing casualties."

Eddie whispered in awe. "That's incredible."

Jamie nodded. "That was just after she made Sargent too, I overheard details when I visited 1PP a few weeks back to help sort out some of the aftermaths around Ricky, and his cartel."

Frank moved on. "Valor and honor are specific qualities of the best in public service. It is also appropriately, two of the NYPD's highest awards of recognition. For more than six months of this calendar year, officer's Reagan and Janko worked undercover to dismantle the largest drug cartel in the U.S, they did so with selfless disregard for their own safety. Undercover work is one of the most mentally taxing things, and this is even more so when there are national stakes. For outstanding valor and honor in the face of extreme risk to themselves from near-fatal interactions I award with federal blessing the Medals of Valor and Honor to both of you."

He donned their medals on all three of them.

Kara smiled broadly. "Thank you, Commissioner."

Jamie and Eddie responded together, grateful, but professional. "Thank you, sir."

VI

When Jamie and Eddie returned home, they got a brief rest because the triplets were sleeping. Henry and Lena were ecstatic about their awards and promotions. Early afternoon saw an unexpected guest visit them.

Jamie gave a casual greeting. "How have you been Jenna?"

She smiled. "Good, glad my father is behind bars already, you have a nice home. I'm sorry to drop by like this. I spoke with Lenny and he put me in touch with your dad Jamie, who gave me your address. Both good people."

Jamie nodded. "You'll have to meet him in person sometime, he was impressed when he heard that you were so willing to serve justice at the cost of your family."

Eddie smiled back. "Thank you, we bought it last week. Your help was the reason we were able to prosecute without a trial. Nobody would be able to dismiss handling that many illegal drugs, not when he conspired to kill a civilian and tried to kill us."

Jenna sat down with a hopeful smile. "That wasn't a cost, it was liberating I hate my father. My brothers well, I don't hate them. We were close as kids but…"

Jamie was encouraging. "What about your brother's we didn't hear their sentences?"

She sighed. "Ian will see the light of day in a minimum of 20 years because he didn't directly cause major harm to anyone. Erik wasn't that smart, attempted murder of a police officer, he'll get out, but he'll be over sixty by the time he does and that's at a minimum."

Eddie sighed. "Are you okay?"

Jenna nodded. "I have my mother, and my life that's enough. I just passed the police exam so I start at the academy in a few weeks, soon I can start erasing my father's awful legacy."

Jamie smiled. "I'm sure you will do great!"

Eddie nodded. "When you make it out of the academy, we'll make sure you land with us in the 29th, just do the best you can. It'll be a little rough given your background but if you earn people's respect that will fade away."

Jamie nodded though he was more cautious. "It should, but if you are still catching heat when you're on the job…well, that's why we'll make sure you're on the 29th, you should be treated fairly and not everyone will be willing to do that. As lieutenants we will make sure you get a fair shot, vouch for you."

Jenna was grateful. "Thank you, both of you. You gave me a way out of that mess, I don't plan on failing as a cop, it was Trish's death that inspired me to become one and I want to be something better than what my father and brothers were."

They both reassured her. "You will be," Jenna said goodbye.

Jamie and Eddie both knew what it was like to be inspired because of tragedy and wanting to either add to or distance from a family legacy, and now they were building their own legacy.

Eddie probed his thoughts. "Where is your head at?"

Jamie pulled a box out of his pocket. "I can't imagine hating my father like Jenna does." He opened the box looking emotional, inside was a Purple Heart.

Eddie agreed her eyes on the medal with an agreeable nod. "He is pretty great!"

Jamie held the medal in his hand, his voice emotional. "My dad is pretty even, right to the point. Doesn't embrace his emotions much, our whole family is like that. When he pulled me aside privately after the ceremony to give me this, all I managed was, thank you. He said this was personal for him."

Eddie nodded, smiling emotionally. "I am sure it was, I am glad you saved his life, but I'm also glad that this string fell into place for him to pull. It's safer and sitting behind a desk more often will be a small price to pay if it means coming home safe to our daughter's.

Jamie nodded. "He said those other officers don't officially retire until the end of the year. That means we don't have to go back in 2020, yet another coincidence that happened to fall into place at the right time. The DEA compensation runs out at the end of the year."

Eddie dropped her head on his shoulder, a resolved smile. "I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The triplets are not even three months old, they still need us too frequently and I still need them. They are perfect."

Jamie turned into her and met her forehead. "That's because they take after their mom."

Eddie put her arms around his neck and whispered dismissively. "That was just a dream Jamie, their too young to know who they take after."

He took her close against him, just as quiet. "It was…my dream and I had it again when in my coma, and now it's real, I just know it. I love you, I love them, and I love that you are in them."

Eddie grinned. "I love you too Boy Scout, and I'm sure that they will have you in them too, but we'll see as they grow up."

Jamie grinned. "Yeah we will."

They kissed for a long time, passionate yet tender. Just as they were about to escalate toward something more heated, cries could be heard on the baby monitor.

Eddie was smiling broadly as they stopped kissing. She was happily blunt. "Duty calls, and not police duty, parent duty."

Jamie had a contemplative expression on his face. "We're parents, you think we'll be good at this, parenting and policing?"

Eddie nodded. "I think we'll do just fine Jamie, no retreat, no surrender."

He nodded smiling and took her hand. "No retreat, no surrender."

* * *

A/N: I tried to find a happy medium between creative liberty and not being so OCD about what is realistic for a triplet pregnancy. In the end, I felt that it was perfectly acceptable that Mary, Joe, and Linda would be watching over things and the newest trio of Reagan's would come out healthy.

I was tempted to have Jamie and Eddie patrol again, but I think Frank would make sure that Jamie and Eddie were less of a risk not to come home to their kids and while its true lieutenants are still in the field it is in more of an advisory role. Ultimately, they are the bridge between precinct captains and other ranks. They're still partnered here, but not in the field on a constant basis which is another happy medium of mine.

Don't know when the sequel is coming, I need a break, but school is over. Look out for some M-rated one-shots in the meantime—I will include plenty of warnings about content when they are published.

Thanks for reading!


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